Naruto: Reversal of Fate
by Kyotoshien Mishura
Summary: Naruto once said that if things could have been different then Sasuke and his rolls would have been reversed. Naruto no longer seeks acceptance and seeks to become the strongest shinobi ever and prove the entire leaf village wrong. How far will Naruto go to gain the power he needs? What will he do with that power? Will he help protect the village? Or will he watch it all burn down?
1. Chapter 1

A lone boy running through the forest with tears in his eyes. Looking back at what had transpired with shinobi hot on his trail. He was used to running...but not like this. How could everything had gone from being so bad to worse. The only person to openly show affection to him, slain by another man of the same village. The thought was sickening to him. Iruka Umino, Academy Teacher of Konohagakure no Sato, was betrayed and killed by none other than Mizuki, fellow academy teacher. Naruto Uzumaki held on tightly to the scroll, with a few tears streaming down his face. Never so much had he held anyone in so much hate as he did Mizuki.

**Earlier That Night**

"It's because you are the Nine Tailed Fox!" Mizuki exclaimed while pointing at Naruto. He began to spin a windmill shuriken in his hand and prepared to throw it. "And now, i'm going to do the entire village a favor!" he said as he threw it. "NARUTO GET DOWN!" Iruka screamed and Naruto covered up. Iruka using what ever energy he had left race infront of the intended target taking the shuriken into the base of his neck. He fell to the ground on top of Naruto, dead within seconds from the fatal wound. "Darn it Iruka...Always getting in the way of what needs to be done!" Mizuki fumed. He hadn't planned on Iruka protecting the boy, or anyone for that matter. He reached for another shuriken while Naruto laid there underneath Iruka shocked. His eye's were widened. "I-Iruka Sensei?" he asked out loud. The man's eyes were blank, pain evident on his face. The shuriken stuck half way into the base of his neck, halted by the rest of his neck. Naruto was in shock. Someone had died for him, had died to protect him.

His eyes went blank and he was enveloped by red chakra. "No..." he said. Mizuki was frozen in place by the chakra's appearance. "I knew it...You ARE the demon fox!" he said. He tried to move his body but the anger and hate rolling off of Naruto was physically restraining him. Such an aura of death around the young boy was shocking. "No...no no no no..." he kept repeating while grabbing his head. Naruto's eyes widened as if something snapped in his mind. He let out a loud roar as his features became more feral. "Noooooooooo!" he roared into the night as he gazed upon Mizuki. Something was off. It was as if he was possessed but he still had that look as if he was there still. "You did this...this is all YOUR fault...Mizuki...I'll NEVER forgive you!" he screamed as he raced foward at the young chuunin. "Crap! I can't move..." Mizuki said. It was as if his body was paraylzed by the foxes chakra himself. Suddenly Naruto was upon him with his hand sharpened with claws. He swiped at Mizuki as he willed his body to raise his arms. The slash tore into his arms and knocked him through the tree he was standing on smashing into the one behind it. As his back hit he coughed up blood from the impact.

"Shit...He's too fast." he said as the boy formed a hand seal. "He couldn't have..." he thought to himself. "Tajuu...Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said as multiple shadow clones surrounded Mizuki, each with the same feral look as Naruto himself. "Mizuki...I'm going to inflict on you the pain I've felt for many of years...One thousand times over..." The clones closed in on Mizuki as all he could do was scream into the night.

With the body of Mizuki and Iruka on the ground and the scroll before him. Naruto picked it up. "The village, will never acknowledge me...Not if they all know that I am the Nine Tailed Fox...But I can't be the fox...if I was...then." his thoughts trailed off. He looked at the scroll and noticed a few more jutsu within the scroll. "Shiki Fuujin, Hachimon...These look pretty dangerous." he said as he looked through the scroll. "Edo...Tensei. Maybe...Maybe I should try and learn these...he said as he copied some of the techniques down on a peice of paper. He wrote down some of the information and stuck it in his pocket. But, I should at least return the scroll. After that, then I can train." he said as he continued to copy down techniques. After finishing he rolled the scroll up and made his way back to the Hokage Tower.

**Present Time**

Naruto finally reached his destination. They'll probably want me dead for taking the scroll. As soon as he stepped down multiple shinobi surrounded him with kunai pointing at all his vital spots as Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared. "Lower your weapons...I've seen everything that has happened and Naruto is innocent." he stated. A few shinobi refused to lower wanting to take the boys life then and there, but another command with a little bit of chakra laced into the air got the point across. Any shinobi who disobeyed this order would not live to tale the tale. Naruto dropped the scroll at the elder Hokage's feet. "I'm...I'm sorry Grandpa...I..." Naruto started choking on his words. "Naruto, It's time that we talked..." Hiruzen said while picking up the scroll. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and they walked into the mansion.

Hiruzen directed Naruto to take a seat and Naruto did so while looking at the floor. "It's time you know why I wanted this seceret to be kept." Hiruzen started. "Twelve years ago, during the Kyuubi Attacked, The fourth Hokage fought the beast, sealing it away. He sealed it inside of you, Naruto. You are not the beast itself, just it's container. Many of the villagers and some of the shinobi can't understand this, so they take their anger out on you. I enacted a law, that you were not to be informed of your burden nor should anyone speak of it out loud. But they have found ways around that law, and abuse it to hurt you. For this, I am truely sorry...But I am going to make a new law." Hiruzen inhaled and exhaled at that. "But...I'm just a kid, how could they treat me like this...Why? Why do they hate me so much?" Naruto thought to himself. He looked at the Hokage. "So, the fourth, he just took me away from my family, he just took me from my home and sealed a demon in me?" Naruto asked. He looked very betrayed. His idol and favorite of the Hokage's sans Sarutobi had given him this burden. "Why!?" Naruto yelled. "Why would he hurt me like this..." he wanted to know...and Sarutobi thought about it for a second. 'There's no other way around this I suppose...' he thought before speaking. "Because, Naruto...Who else would a Hokage trust to handle a burden other than his own son." he finished. Naruto's eyes widened at that statement. The fourth...was his father! "His...son?" Naruto was shocked. The villagers were harming the legacy of the man they praised. Oh the irony. A range of emotions flew through the young shinobi's face. Anger, rage, resentment, hate, sadness, hopelessness, then understanding. And the most shocking to the elder Hokage, finalization. As if Naruto himself had come to terms with the situation. "I see..." Naruto said. "Grandpa...I'm going to go home and sleep now...can we finish talking in the morning?" he asked. The Elder Hokage nodded but asked Naruto before he left. "Do you want that law to disappear Naruto?" He asked. Naruto looked back before exiting and silently spoke. "That law has done nothing but made my life hell. I'll never have a normal life any ways. Do what you will with the law, it won't help me either way." he said. Hiruzen took out a headband and tossed it to Naruto. "You've at least earned this Naruto." Hiruzen sighed as Naruto exited after catching the headband and thanking the elder Hokage. "These people don't know what hell they've unleashed. That boy...when he puts his mind to something he's determined."

**At Naruto's Apartment.**

He walked into his some what messy home. He took out the paper he wrote the techniques on and began to get to work. He had saw a few things in the scroll that had some details of the techniques and how to use them and what uses they could be used for. He read that the Kage Bunshin could be used to gather intellegence and learn things. He formed a single shadow clone and had it read the paper to test it out, and once the clone dispelled, he memorized everything on the paper. "This will be useful for the time to come. I wonder what else I could do with clones." Naruto thought. He removed the head band from his pocket and began to think. "I once wanted them to respect me...and all they do is hate me. I'll never understand these people." he said out loud. 'Maybe it's time I wisened up...I mean, honestly not even Sakura-chan is interested in me. Every fawns over that Uchiha kid...but I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage...No one even knows...Maybe it's time I stopped messing around and got serious about my life.' He thought to himself. He decided that he would have to become smarter, think things through, keep his emotions in check, and trust no one. Maybe a few Leaf Shinobi he could trust, but not the ones who have been cruel to him before. He formed a few Kage Bunshin. "I want you all to go over to the Library and pick up a few books. Read as many as you can and dispell once you've read as many as you can. If you need to transform into someone else as to not raise suspicion. Maybe a group of Shinobi trying to study up at night or something, what ever works for you. Read up on history, tactics, and manners as well." he ordered the clones before crawling into the bed. The clones left with a nod and did as they were told.

"In the morning, once I've memorized all this information, I should try and get some practical use out of it. But for now..." he thought as tears streamed down his eyes. "I don't even think i want to live any more." he thought. He cried himself to sleep that night as the clones did their job. After the dispelled Naruto passed out from the influx of information into his mind. There he would have a meeting with the most deadliest creature to ever walk the earth.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Academy**

Naruto walked into the room. He wore his head band around his head with his orange suit still on. Naruto decided not to make any drastic changes as to alert people, so changes in clothing and appearances was not a good idea for now. Maybe down the line when people got to know the new him he would but for now, he would just stay calm and act..."Hey Naruto...what are you doing here, you failed the academy exam...Don't tell me you're trying to act tough with that fake head band on!" Kiba roared loudly. Now with attention all on them Naruto sighed. Wait...Naruto...sighing...This is new. Naruto looked at Kiba and spoke calmly and quietly. "Because I have a lot of chakra, I can't do the clone technique. I have way too much chakra to control, so they taught me another form of the clone technique and since I'm able to use it up to par, they allowed me to pass." Naruto said. Kiba nodded in understanding. Naruto always did have a lot of chakra and energy so he decided not to push the topic any further. Word about the law being appealed by the Third Himself had not reached the kids yet, so none of them knew what Naruto housed. Things were quiet for a while until two Kunoichi decided that racing into the class room o they can claim their stake to sit next to Sasuke would be a good idea. "Out of the WAY Ino Pig I won this time!" Sakura exclaimed. "No way forehead, my foot was at least a tenth of an inch ahead of yours. The only way you could have beaten me was if you stuck your forehead out!" Ino exclaimed back. Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke and placed his head down. He still had a migrane and his head was pounding. The loud noises weren't helping either. He still had a bit of a crush on Sakura but he wasn't in the mood to hear her screaming with Ino.

"Narutooooo...what are you doing next to My Sasuke!" Sakura growled. "Would you like to sit here Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as Sasuke's eyes got wide. 'No...no...no...no..' Sasuke kept thinking over and over. "Na-naruto...you'd willingly let me sit with Sasuke?" Sakura stated shocked. At that point the new teacher walked in. "Alright class take a seat and we'll begin squad placement! You two, grab a seat..." he said while pointing at Sakura and Ino. Naruto sat back down beside Sasuke who let loose a sigh. Ino and Sakura sat together and were upset but were a little bothered by Naruto's calm attitude. Lost in their mind they didn't hear the squads until..."Squad Seven. Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Squad Eight. Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame...Team Nine is still in circulation from last year. Squad Ten. Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akamichi, Shikamaru Nara. That's it for squads, dismissed." He said as the kids got up and walked out. "Sasuke-Kun!" Sakura walked up and tried to talk to Sasuke. "You want to have lunch with me? We can get to know each other better!" Sasuke walked off without even looking back. "Sasuke..." Naruto looked at Sasuke's retreating back. "We should have lunch together and get to know each other, If we know more about each other, we won't get in the others way and can plan out things together." Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke eye brow arched a little as he thought about it. "Fine...I don't like people getting in my way." Sasuke said as he walked on. Naruto and Sakura followed behind while Sakura eyed Naruto. 'This Naruto...is totally different from the one before..' Sakura thought. They ate lunch together while the Silence began to become annoying. Sakura broke the silence first. "Naruto...what's so different about you, why have you changed." she asked. Naruto visibly flinched. "I...I learned something about myself. Something that you're going to find out very soon. And that information caused me to want to change myself." he finished.

They couldn't understand what the information was, but they definatly wanted to find out. They walked to the next classroom as Naruto sat still. He actually sat still and waited. Two hours came and their sensei finally showed up. "My first impression of you..." Kakashi started. "I've seen corpses with more energy...Meet me on top of the roof in five minutes." He said while disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto walked up and was followed by Sakura and Sasuke. "Alright, let's Introduce ourselves...Why don't you start there with the pink hair?" Kakashi asked. "Sensei, why don't you show us how to do it so we can get the general idea?" she asked. "Ok...My name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes...I don't feel like telling you that. My dislikes...Not really important...Dreams for the Future...Never really thought about that. Goals..." he seemed as if he was off in though for the moment. "Ok your turn." 'All he really told us was his name' they all thought. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like flowers and reading and..."she blushed a little here."My dislikes are mainly just Ino and bugs. My goal for the future...Are kind of private" she blushed furiously after looking at Sasuke. "Ok Blond you're up next." Naruto was silent for a few seconds. "My name...Is Naruto Uzumaki. I like to train. I dislike judgemental people. My goals for the future is to show the world how strong I really am." he said. Kakashi's eye almost widened but he caught himself. 'That was unexpected...From the folders I read on him...he's supposed to be hyperactive and unfocused. He seems too calm, collected...Almost like a seasoned shinobi.' He thought to himself. "Alright your turn." He said pointing to Sasuke. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like anything in particular, and I dislike a lot of things. What I have is not a dream, but an ambition...I plan to restore my clan to its former glory, and kill a certain someone." he finished. Kakashi thought for a moment but decided to see what this team had. "Alright. Tomorrow we will do a survival exercise. You can call it the Real Genin test...This test will have a 66.6% chance of failure. Meet me at Training Ground 7 at 7 am...And don't be late. Oh and...don't eat breakfast, you might hurl." he finished as he left Sakura standing wide mouth, and Sasuke and Naruto with notable scowls on their face. "I'm going to go train." Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time. They left Sakura as she watched the boys leave on their own paths. She looked at their backs and turned to go home.

**Training Ground Seven**

Light stretched over the Land as Naruto finished eating an apple. He had decided to eat more fruits and vegetables to help his body grow and develop. How he had acquired a fresh apple was simple. He picked it off a tree. Sasuke appeared followed by Sakura afterwards. Naruto laid on the ground and closed his eyes. "I have a feeling our sensei will be late. You might want to catch a bit of rest. Also here." Naruto said throwing them some apples. "Eat this for a quick snack. It'll help you get through the day." He said as Sasuke took a bite. Because Sasuke did, Sakura followed suit and ate the apple. Two hours Later Kakashi arrived. "Rise and Shine my little students. Today's the day we start your exam." he said removing an alarm clock and setting it. "You have one hour to get these bells from me. Those who get a bell pass, who ever doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy. Come at me with the intent to kill...or you won't get the bells. You may begin when I say so." He said as the genin took a stance. "Begin!" he said as they all dashed off. "Well they're all hidden well, that's for sure...What in the...I can only sense two of them. Where's Naruto?" he said. He didn't feel anything under ground, he didn't hear any steps. It was as if he vanished. Suddenly his senses were flooded with chakra. "This...This chakra." he said. The chakra put Kakashi on edge. He hadn't felt that chakra in a long time. A single mass appeared infront of Kakashi and lunged at him. Kakashi took a stance and blocked the incoming shinobi. Suddenly Kakashi felt something tugging on his waste and launched an elbow to the back of the head of the person. Then a puff of smoke surrounded Kakashi and two Blond haired shinobi rushed at Kakashi. "Clever...use the smoke to draw my attention and cloud my vision." he said. "But you'll have to do better than..." Then he saw what the clones were holding. Two Kunai with explosive tags. "Shit!" Kakashi said as he lept back forming hand seals for a substitution technique quickly. The clones exploded blowing apart the logs as Naruto sat in his tree watching from above. 'He substituted...So this is the skill of a Jounin. I can't compare with his abilities without relying on the foxes power. And even then only a little.' Naruto thought. Sasuke watched and was impressed. Sakura was floored. Naruto had just gone toe to toe with a jounin for a short amount of time. That was impessive by genin standards. Sasuke looked around for Kakashi as he jumped down from the tree he was in. "That...was close." Kakashi said out loud.

Kakashi pulled out a book and began to read. "Now to just wait. He'll obviously try it again and this time I won't underestimate him." Kakashi was in alert. He only took out the book to look preoccupied. Sasuke threw a load of shuriken at Kakashi and manipulated them to curve around to hit Kakashi's unsuspsecting body. The form of Kakashi faded away to reveal a log and Sasuke took off. "Shit...he know's my location" he said as Kakashi appeared infront of him. "Yeah, I do..." Sasuke kept running at Kakashi and launched a right hand straight which Kakashi caught, followed by jumping up and bringing his left leg up to deliver a spinning kick to Kakashi's head which was caught by the other hand of Kakashi. Sasuke then tried to grab a bell as Kakashi pushed Sasuke away and slid back getting distance. Sasuke landed on his feet as he began a few hand signs. Suddenly someone snuck up from behind and grabbed Kakashi placing him in a full nelson. "Now Sasuke!" A voice called out and Sasuke launched a fireball at Kakashi and what ever was grabbing him. Kakashi jumped into the air with the large weight on his back and avoided the fireball bearly as his foot got burned a little. "Damn it." He thought. As he landed something was off as he didn't hear the jingling of bells. Suddenly a poof of smoke later and one scowling Naruto holding up two bells in his hands and Kakashi made the conclusion. 'Very...clever' He thought. "Here..." he said as he threw the bells to Sasuke and Sakura. "I don't really need genin this time. And a little bit of class would do me some more good so I don't mind going back to the academy." he said as he began to walk off. "Naruto...no one's going back to the academy...you all pass." Kakashi said as he smiled at the genin. Naruto was confused. "Huh?" he said. "The test is about team work. That combination you pulled off with Sasuke was very good. All though Sakura didn't really do much, your team work with Sasuke was flawless." Naruto rose up a hand. "Actually...she's the one who threw the kunai which cut the strings off your bell when I grabbed you." He said as Sakura scratched the back of her head. "If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have gotten the bells off of you. While you were fighting my clones I went and looked for the other's and gave them instructions. Inf fact some of the shuriken that Sasuke threw were my shadow clones. So...it really was a group effort." Kakashi was floored. They had executed a plan to get the bells off of him on their own. This team had potential. "Alright, well meet here tomorrow at the same time and we'll do our first mission. I expect great things from you Team 7" Kakashi said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm going to go get some food. You guys want to come with me?" Naruto asked. He didn't want to get attached but after a long day of fighting, he was hungry. "Sure...I could use a bite to eat." Sasuke said suprising everyone. "I-I'll go to..." Sakura said. The team walked off towards Ichiraku Ramen. Besides, it was a great day to celebrate. For now.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the past few days, Naruto and his team had performed a few D ranked missions gaining enough missions to even qualify to take a C ranked. Which brings us to our current time and location. Naruto was standing before this Drunk of a Man claiming to be the worlds best bridge builder and blah blah blah. Naruto could care less. He wanted a challenge to test his skills again. He had finally mastered being able to open up the first and second gates and had a bit of an understanding of the Edo Tensei technique he copied but he had a lot of work to do on the Shiki Fuujin technique. He had requested a scroll on sealing and was supplied with the basics. His Kage Bunshin read over the scroll every night helping him memorize things with it. This caused Naruto to come across an astounding discovery. When his clones learned something like how to use a technique, he could use it himself. He knew they could gather information but now, the possibilities were endless. He could have them learn the Edo Tensei in a few weeks or even a few days. But he would have to do it on a week or something off. Nrauto knew his potential was now unlimited.

**A few days ago**

Naruto had just finished channeling chakra into a slip of paper he got from a teacher at the academy. He had asked about chakra natures and was suprised when one of the shinobi actually answered and helped him. They told him to channel chakra into the paper which he did and it split in half. "Wind chakra...This could be useful in my training" he said to himself. He thanked the teacher and left the class room. He headed to the Hokage's tower and asked to speak with the Hokage about an urgent matter. His usual story. The receptionist already knew the code and let the young boy through. He knocked on the door and the Hokage allowed him in. "Naruto my boy, what can I do for you?" Hiruzen asked. "I was wondering if you know where I could get some scrolls on wind techniques. I've found out I have a wind element." Naruto explained. "Hm...Asuma is a wind type, he had a few scrolls a while back and I kept them around here some where..." he thought before going to a drawer and removing a few scrolls. "Here you go, a few C and B ranked Wind techniques. But you should seek Asuma out to learn a few wind training exercises." Hiruzen informed Naruto. Naruto nodded and took off to find Asuma.

Lucky for him, he was able to find the man out on a walk with Kurenai. "Asuma sensei, Hokage-sama told me that I could ask you for a few wind training exercises. Do you have any that you could teach me?" Naruto asked politely. Asuma thought about it for a moment then gave Naruto his apartment adress telling him to meet him there the next day. Sure enough Naruto showed up ready to learn and Asuma was happy to comply. Naruto got the basic idea of training and got used to it enough to understand what he was supposed to do. He finished the basic chakra training on his own which was to coat a kunai with wind chakra and increase it's cutting power. When Asuma had shown Naruto his trench knives and Flying Swallow technique, Naruto had asked if he knew where he could get chakra reactive weapons like his. Asuma gave him the name of a weapons shop and sure enough Naruto went to the shop. He was able to work out a deal with the Owner who was happy to make the young ninja a pair of claw's that were similar to Asuma's trench knives. The man told Naruto that they would be ready within a few weeks. Naruto thanked the man, paying in advance and taking the receipt. Naruto then went to the training fields to try and master his wind element. Naruto had the clones work on master wind element for the whole day. He himself meditated and cleared his mind so that he wouldn't get too fatigued from the training. He had learned that meditation and a calmed mind helped him adjust to the training better. He did the D ranked missions in the morning and did the Training at night with the clones. As Naruto realized it was time for them to get a C ranked mission as they had reached their qouta, he had his team of Kage Bunshin focus on being able to perform Edo Tensei. He had been using Shadow clones as the sacrifice and by doing that he knew one thing. He never wanted to be a sacrifice for an Edo Tensei. He knew it's inner workings inside and out, and all he had left was to figure out a way to control what ever he summoned. Naruto laid in his bed that night and began to think back on all the information his clones had gathered for him on sealing. He knew it'd be a long night.

**Present Time Outside the Gates of Konoha**

Naruto and his team had just set off. Naruto knew that there was other places far off but he had never been outside the village. He was taking it all in at the moment and seceretly enjoyed the time with his team mates. Things were going well so far until they passed a puddle. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi noticed the puddle and knew that it didn't belong there. It hadn't rained in weeks. Naruto and Sasuke mentally preared themselves. Suddenly two shinobi appeared from the puddle and wrapped a chain around Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke noticing that Kakashi had already performed Substitution new they could let loose on the men. Sasuke formed a few hand signs while Naruto created two Shadow clones. When sasuke finished his hand seals and released a ball of fire upon the two Naruto's first shadow clone thrusted his hands out and a gust of wind increased and fanned the flames to engluf the two Shinobi. This didn't happen as they both broke apart their chain and scattered out of the path of the combined technique. They made a rush for the bridge builder which was being guarded by Sakura. Sakura brought her kunai up to defend but the attacker was intercepted by Naruto who had caught the man's extended arm with his hands. Naruto clenched tightly channeling some of the foxes power to augment his strength enough to break the arm and pulled the man inward for a brutal punch to the face which knocked him out cold. Sasuke launched a vicious kick to the other shinobi stomache and elbowed him in the back of the head knocking him down and restrained him with ninja wire. Once they were captured Kakashi appeared and looked at the client. "Tazuna-San...I think it's time we talked..." Tazuna paled a little bit. These kids were good, and if they were that good he was terrified of how good their teacher was.

After Kakashi finished talking to Tazuna the team decided it was the best idea to help the Wave village out. They continued on their path until they got to where they needed to cross. They realized that it was a little misty out but none of them were worried about the mist. They kept their senses sharp worried about what would be in the mist waiting. As they reached the location, Sasuke suddenly sensed something in the bushes and threw a kunai barely missing a rabbit. The rabbit's fur caught Naruto as suspicious and his thoughts were finalized as Kakashi called for everyone to get down. A giant sword flew over head imbeding itself into a tree. A man then appeared on top of the handle and looked back at the group. "Well...well..well. I didn't know Kakashi became a baby sitter...This'll be fun." he said as Kakashi glared at the man. "Zabuza Momochi...what are you doing here." he asked just for conformation. He already knew someone must of hired the man and was formulating a battle plan based on the information he knew about Zabuza. As Zabuza spoke Naruto and his team crowed the bridge builder in a tight formation. Naruto was facing the direction of the bridge builder with Sasuke looking south east and sakura looking south west. Kakashi lifted up his head band revealing a Sharingan as Zabuza formed a few hand signs and the mist thickened. Naruto pushed his hands out and pumping a lot of chakra blew away the mist. This allowed Kakashi to track Zabuza's movements and stop his assault.

Kakashi used his kunai to clash with Zabuza's sword, a feat which was impressive in itself speaking highly of Kakashi's strength. Kakashi then pushed off of Zabuza launching the kunai at the man then formed a few hand signs. The kunai was deflected by Zabuza's blade as Kakashi used the distraction to form a few Water Clones he copied from Zabuza. The Kakshi clone slashed through Zabuza with a kunai causing it to turn to water. Zabuza then revealed himself from behind a tree and with quick speed beheaded the clone turning it to water. Kakashi used this time to launch a fireball at Zabuza who jumped back on to the top of the water and began forming hand signs quickly. Kakashi copied it as quickly as Zabuza performed it and a vortex of water formed around the two and clashed into each other creating a large wave. Sasuke and Naruto watched the battle in awe and tried to focus on Zabuza who was lost in the battle himself. Kakashi made a small mistake launching himself next to Zabuza on the water who, after he launched a quick jab, leaned back while forming hand signs and thrusted his hands foward capturing Kakashi in the orb of water. "Well...looks like you've been slipping Kakashi." Zabuza said a little out of breath. The battle wasn't going how he wanted and he was forced to fight all out against the Jounin. If his mist technique had worked he could have formed water clones to help him get to this point. Kakashi looked at his students. "Take Tazuna and get out of here!" Kakashi called out to his students. Naruto thought for a moment and realized that if they ran, they'd just die any how. So Naruto did what he did best. He improvised. He formed a few clones and had one of them Throw a few shuriken to the right of Zabuza while the other formed his own set of seals. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" the clone said. This caused the Shuriken to turn into a wall of shuriken that would hit only Zabuza. Zabuza had to release his hand from the orb and move out the way or his whole left side would have been pelted by shuriken. This allowed Kakashi to set himself up right and face Zabuza head on again. Zabuza began to backpeddal. He had used up a lot of chakra. He was getting tired and Kakashi was on his last leg as well. He could risk going into a Ninjutsu war with the man with 1000 ninjutsu, but that in itself sounded suicidal. So he did what every great ninja to ever survive a battle did. He retreated. Kakashi returned back to Tazuna seeing as the hostile target had disengaged the client.

He placed his headband back over his eye and fell to a knee. "That...took a lot of chakra out of me..." he said while resting. He didn't over do it with his sharingan too much but he was close to drained. "Quick thinking Naruto, where'd you learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique?" He asked. Naruto waved him off. "I recreated it after toying around with the Shadow Clone techniques. I can make shadow clones of a lot of different things." He said as if it was nothing. Kakashi was impressed. After helping Kakashi walk and Tazuna escorting them to the house(Oh what irony) they decided that rest was in order. They had made it to the location now all they had to do was protect Tazuna while he built the bridge. How hard could that be?


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto was currently sitting a top a tree...Why? Because Kakashi had thought that teaching them tree climbing validates as training. Not to mention because He already knew it and Sakura mastered it quickly. He had opted to stay behind and help Sasuke, who claimed he didn't need it(and still doesn't), master it as well. Naruto explained to him the basic principle of what the lesson was to do. Help teach him control. Naruto had already mastered his chakra control using the Shadow clone technique. So while Sasuke ran up the tree, Naruto monitored while Kakashi rested, and Sakura guarded Tazuna. Naruto decided to read over his sealing scrolls and practice his calligraphy. He knew that one brush stroke off could change a seal from "Good Seal" to "Explosive Nuke" and he wanted to make sure his writing was perfected. After validating that it was acceptable he began to work on the practice seals. The first seals would just make a paper change different colors depending on what seal was written on it. He pracitced this for a few minutes before moving onto the next steps and so on. Around night time Sasuke had finally reached the top and was exaughsted. Naruto had used up a little bit of chakra practicing his seals so they decided a little rest was good for the both of them.

They each got to sit down and eat dinner at Tazuna's house. The meal was cooked by his daughter, Tsunami. She did the best with what she had, and they didn't complain. They were just greatful to be fed. But there was one boy there who wasn't happy at all about the ninja's arrival. "Why do you try?" Inari asked the ninja at the table. "Gato's too powerful, he's just going to kill you all." He said. "Inari!" Tsunami started trying to scold him but Naruto rose up a hand. "Is something wrong Inari?" Naruto asked. He wanted to get to the bottom of the boy's foul additude. Deep inside it was pissing him off. It wasn't like the hate filled glares he got at home, but it made him uncomfortable. "Why are you even trying to stop Gato. You're just going to die like the rest if you challenge him." Inari stated again clear in his resolve. Naruto stood up and walked over to Inari. "I hate to tell you this, but Gato's not that powerful at all. If it wasn't for his money he probably wouldn't be able to do anything to you or this village. We're pretty good ninja, and I'm sure we can handle it..." Naruto said placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Inari snatched his shoulder away with a glare. "And what would you know? You're a ninja you probably had a very easy life anyways. What would YOU know about true pain and suffering." Inari snapped. For a breif moment Naruto's chakra released itself causing a small crack in the windows and some of the glass. Naruto reeled himself in before he got too carried away. He calmed himself down and gave Inari a stare that almost made the boy cry and beg for his Mom. "You have your mother and a grandfather who love you. You're eating food that was cooked just for you. You're not sleeping on the street's or having to worry about if that guy over there is going to kill you just because you looked at him. As far as I'm concerned, you live a pretty swell life. I'd give almost anything to have what you have. Current situation and all. Think about that for a little while." he said as he walked out the door shutting it calmly. He needed some fresh air and something to take his mind off the pain.

**Open Field**

Naruto was laying on his back gazing at the stars. A lot of thoughts going through his mind. That anger he felt. It almost made him want to snap the boys neck. That wasn't him. At least...he prayed it wasn't him. He closed his mind and entered his thoughts. He entered into a cage with the word seal over it. Behind it a mass of red fur was entrapped. "Kurama...don't tell me you tried to take over again. I thought we came to an agreement." he said knocking on the cage door. The fox behind it grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about child." he said. Naruto chuckled a little bit. "You aren't a very good liar. So what is it you want this time?" he asked as the fox sat up a little bit. "It's boring in here...I have to entertain myself some how." Kyuubi explained. Naruto and the Fox weren't really on good terms, but they had an understanding. On the night Naruto had sent his clones to the library to study up and knocked himself out with the information overload, Naruto and the Kyuubi spoke face to face. The conversation between them was one that would have knocked any hard core shinobi vetern off their feet. To see a young boy of twelve years old back talk a giant demonic fox was hilarious.

**Weeks Ago**

"You idiotic brat...you almost went brain dead there with that over load of information. What would I do with a host that can't move. The body wouldn't be any good to me..." He said. Naruto felt the chakra of the beast and was floored. "Y-you're the...K-k-kyuubi." Naruto said. He was terrified, a being of massive chakra like that inside of him was still new to him. The concept was even newer. "Maybe you're not so dumb after all." The fox replied. "I called you here to berate you for such a stupid move and almost damning me to a life inside a empty shell...but while I have you here I might as well try and eat you. It's been a while since I've had a decent meal. Maybe you'll make a good appetizer." The fox responded with a snarl. "Oh no...I'm not becoming ANYONE'S meal. You're the reason I'm so hated...you're the reason my family is dead...you're the reason everything in my life is going down hill." Naruto said while walking over to the seal. He placed his hands up on the seal and began to peal it away. "When I get in there I'm going to rip you a new one you stupid fox!" he said. At the last moment his hand was grabbed by anothers. "Let me go...LET ME GO!" Naruto screamed while turning to launch a punch and was shocked at who it was.

"Now what kind of father would I be if I let my son face off against the worlds most powerful demon." Minato replied. "Yondaime...You're lucky this cage is here to prevent me from eating you where you stand." Kyuubi said. "Quiet you giant furball I'm here to speak with my son." He replied. The Fox laid it's head down. "Watch it blondie." The fox said. "Dad...?" Naruto responded. He was still holding his fist in the air wanting to launch the punch. "Yeah son. I'm here..." he said only to recieve a hard punch to the stomach. "You bastard! How could you seal that thing inside me!" He said pointing to the fox. "Hey..yeah...Giant ear...right here." the fox replied sounding a little hurt. "Why don't we talk about this some where else?" Minato said as he snapped his finger and the whole area became white. "Naruto...There's something I was hoping to tell you. So I need you to listen closely. I'll explain everything afterwards." Minato said. Minato told Naruto everything. He told him about the battle with the fox. How him and Kushina fought along side each other to battle the fox and protected Naruto with their bodies to seal the fox away. "Naruto. It's up to you to stop that shinobi...He's a dangerous ninja who will stop at nothing to destroy the village. Even I couldn't stop him. That's why I sealed the fox in you. Because you're the only one who can protect the village." Minato finished. Naruto looked shell shocked. "How do you know I even want to save the village?" He asked Minato. Minato looked shocked for a minute but knew why. "I know what they did to you was wrong Naruto, but you have to rise against it. Form new bonds, don't let this settle on you too long." Minato tried to give his son hope. "I..I don't even know if I want to save the village. There are a few people I'd save...but. I couldn't save the village. Not after all it's done to me." Naruto spoke. Minato looked hurt but he understood why. "Naruto, you're my son. I'll love you no matter what road you take, but true strength comes when you protect something that is important to you. Hatred solves nothing. Remember that." Minato said. He began to fade away. "Well...my time is up. Train hard, and say hello to your mother for me." He said as he faded completely away and Naruto returned to the foxes cage. He looked at the fox and turned to him.

"Tell me everything you know...about that night." he said with a silent glare. The fox couldn't have been prouder at the Hate within that glare. The fox told him everything. How he was controlled with the sharingan, impaling Naruto's parents, his orgins. Everything. Naruto thought for a moment. "So...Is your name actually Kyuubi then or do you have a real name?" Naruto asked. "Kurama...my name is Kurama." the fox replied. "Alright Kurama. I have an offer for you. You're going to give me any amount of chakra I ask for. In return, if...and only if, my goals are accomplished. I'll let you out. You will not try and possess me, and I'll give you access to my senses and even allow you to view the world from my eyes. This'll will entertain you enough." Naruto said while crossing his arms. The fox looked a little bit shocked that a young boy would try to command him but he realized that if he cooperated, he'd have his freedom soon enough. "Alright...We'll see how this goes." he said.

**Current Time**

Naruto Looked at the fox. "Alright...really what do you want?" he asked. "You need to train to use my chakra properly. Since I've promised not to try and take over I don't have to influence you. But you do have to train for control over my tails of chakra. And no amount of clones will help you master that boy." the fox mocked. "So what do you want me to do?" he asked. "Find someone that could help you control my power. I could teach you how, but it's more fun to watch you work." the fox said. Naruto gave a deadpan look. "Fine...I'm going to get some rest then." Naruto finished. He disappeared from his mind as he closed his eyes. He had a lot of researching to do.


	5. Chapter 5

A current clash of fates was happening on the bridge. Naruto, who had finished off two samurai trying to have their way with Tsunami, was making his way towards the battle field. He had made an order for the clones to surround the house and protect them at all costs. As he sped off he came across the exit to the forest and infront of the bridge. He could see Zabuza and Kakashi fighting but the mist was very thick, so he could only see the sparks and the giant blade moving. He formed a single shadow clone and told it to blow away the mist. As the clone nodded it used up a lot of it's chakra to blow away the mist and remain hidden. Once the clone did that Naruto came out and looked at the dome that was there. From the looks of it Sasuke was having trouble in the dome. Naruto wanted to rush in and save the boy, but he had no idea how things were going. So he did all that he could do. He formed enough shadow clones to hit each mirror, and had them each form a volitile seal. This was his version of the explosive tags. After messing around with seals for a while, he found out that if a tag wasn't made correctly, it could explode very well. The clones did as instructed and on each mirror, there was a seal. Naruto formed a ram seal and the dome shattered instantly launching Haku out of the mirrors and onto the ground.

"That...took a lot...of chakra..." Naruto said panting. He was now dipping into the foxes chakra and he had to be careful how much he used. Sasuke had been caught in the inferno of tags, but the ice dome had provided some protection. He wasn't burnt at all but his ears were ringing like hell. The force had knocked him to his knees and he was slowly getting up a little dizzy. "Hey...warn someone next time you do that..." Sasuke said. "If I had...That ninja would have figured out my idea, and probably escaped the mirrors." He explained. Haku's mask had shattered and the right side of his face had burnt plastic in it. The back of his kimono was burnt severly. Haku couldn't even move. "Da...damn it..." Haku said. "Zabuza...I failed you." He said. Naruto walked over to Haku. "You mind telling me why you're with the Eyebrowless Freak over there?" Naruto asked while squatting down. Haku narrowed his eyes. "Do not talk about Zabuza-sama that way." He finished. Haku rolled over a little and tried to get up but Naruto kicked him in his ribs sending him rolling. "Ya know...hurting women isn't my forte...But to really put a number on Sasuke like that, I can't take any chances..." Naruto said while scratching himself. "So I'm going to ask you one more time...Why...are you with...Zabuza...?" Naruto said. Haku decided to tell Naruto his story. The fact that he started with "When I was a young boy" made Naruto's eyes widened. 'He's just like me...except he got picked up by the wrong person...' He finished his thought. "Alright. Don't move...I'll try to persuade Kakashi not to kill Zabuza but mainly substain him." He then heard the crackling of lightning. "Might...be a little to late on that Naruto." Sasuke said. "I did say I'd try...HEY KAKASHI" he yelled. "Aim for his Shoulder!" he finished yelling. 'What the hell is wrong with Naruto...I should finish this guy now...maybe he has a good reason. Fine...shoulder it is.' He finished thinking as he charged. He lunged the Raikiri into Zabuza's arm causing it to hang limply. He targeted his sword using arm so he wouldn't be a threat to them now. With medical treatment he'd recover but...he wasn't getting it down in Wave.

Zabuza fell to the ground and couldn't lift his sword. "Damn you Kakashi...you should have just killed me. "He said. "Quit your whining...Naruto wanted me to incompacitate you so he must have a reason." he said as ninja wire came out his sleeve binding Zabuza. Clapping could be heard across the bridge. "Well Done...althought, if Zabuza couldn't beat you, then I guess he is a little Demon after all." Gato said while snarling at them. "Kill them all, none leave this bridge alive." He said. "Any who ever kills Zabuza get's the pay I was going to give him.." he finished. Sasuke and Naruto stepped foward. "Got any plan's?" He asked Naruto. "Burn em." Naruto said. Sasuke formed a few hand signs and naruto gathered a lot of chakra. "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" he yelled. The fire headed towards the men they realized how wide it was going. Once the fire began to hit Naruto released his wind technique fanning the flames. The amount of fire took out a large portion of the bridge. Naruto removed a few soldier pills from his pocket and passed one to Kakashi and Sasuke taking one for himself. With the small boost in chakra for them they ran off into the flames with kunai and began to slash through the remaining men. Clean up was easy. They only left Gato who tried to escape but was caught by Sasuke with ninja wire. Naruto walked up to Gato and knelt down to his eye level since he was on the floor sitting. "You know...they'll kill you. Right?" Naruto said. Gato's eyes widened. "Please...spare me...I'll give you anything you want." He begged. "Anything?" Naruto asked. "Pay for the bridge to be completed, and return the fortune you took from this village back to them. And the rest of your money...Goes to me. Consider this payment for return of your life. Or would you rather we just hand you over and let them kill you. Oh and...your company goes to Tazuna. I'm sure the man could put it to good use." He finished. Gato realized it'd break him. He'd have no money...he'd have no power. But he'd be alive. Gato quickly agreed and he was taken away by Naruto. Kakashi and Sasuke looked at him while he left and wondered where he was taking the short man. "I'm going to follow Naruto and keep an eye on him, you guys stay here and guard these two. They can't move and should be no issue." Kakashi said. He made a single shadow clone to stay back and take care of them just in case and left after Naruto.

Gato and Naruto arrived at Gato's hideout. Gato was performing the paper work for the transfer of the funds and was emptying his bank accounts. Naruto gathered up the deeds to the company and other useful objects Gato had. Afterwards Naruto collected the papers in a briefcase Gato had and thanked him for his business. Gato began to sigh when a kunai was pressed against his throat. "But...I thought we had a deal?" Gato said. "I'm a shinobi...deals mean nothing to me. You're a threat and must be eliminated. This is for Inari's father." he said as he slit Gato's throat. He picked up a lighter and gas and poured the gas on the floor leading a trail to the door. He lit the lighter and threw it over his shoulder setting the gas ablaze and burning the place down. As he exited with his briefcase Kakashi arrived. "What was that about Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "Let's just say life in wave is going to get pretty sweet." Naruto said. He made his way back to the village and had the people gather around. "Each and every one of you have nothing to fear. Gato is no more. In this briefcase is the fourtune he took from you. And for you Tazuna...here." He said handing the man the Deed to Gato's company. Tazuna's eyes went wide. "Naruto...I can't take this?" He said. Gato was the biggest shipping company in the world. After Naruto was going to take some money out of the accounts they could make that money back easily. "You've worked hard for this bridge Tazuna. You deserve to have the company of the man who took your son-in-law away from you." He finished. He closed the brief case as he began to walk back. "I'm heading back to the house for rest. Hope to see you guys there." He said. He disappeared in a puff of smoke and made it back to the house. His clones had protected Tsunami and Inari and made sure no hostiles got past the line. He knocked on the door and Inari answered and promptly hugged Naruto. "Thank you...for saving me and my mother!" he said. Naruto patted Inari on the head. "It was nothing. I'm going to lie down now." He said as he made it to the couch and laid down. He fell asleep within moments. Kakashi ordered Sasuke and Sakura to return back to the house and check on Naruto to get rest. Within a few hours the whole gang was back at Tsunami's house where Naruto was fast asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Team Seven was making its return to wave in silence. Not much had to be said. They had went through a life changing mission in Wave. For Sasuke and Naruto, they just got their first kills. Naruto accepted his easier than Sasuke did for the simple fact that once you realize that as a tailed beast container, bloodshed would follow you for a long, long...time. Once checking in at the front gate, they made their way to the Hokage mansion. It was time to report on their mission, and Kakashi was NOT looking forward to this moment. He told the story of how his team single-handedly uprooted a major multimillion dollar company and handed it over to people who could better use the resources. Coupled with the defeat of Zabuza and Haku, who had disappeared during the celebration of Gato's death, Kakashi and Naruto gained a little bit more street cred. With the defeat of a chuunin level shinobi under Naruto's belt and since he took out Gato himself, he earned a little mentioning in a certain book. It wasn't much. But a C ranked ranking in the Bingo Book, posted by our favorite Demon of the Mist, gave Naruto a little gain in his goal. To become recognized as the strongest shinobi.

With his goal feeling a little closer, he was happy for the first time in years. But he didn't let it show on the outside. He would celebrate later with training in his father's technique. He had been studying the Hiraishin technique and was hoping to "reverse engineer" it but had no luck. He figured he could do it with time and at least a basis to start on. But it wasn't like he could Edo Tensei his father and ask him how he did it. His soul lied buried in the bowels of the shinigami's stomach. While Naruto was thinking about the technique Sasuke was silently fuming. Kakashi was giving the "Dobe" all the credit and wasn't talking about his accomplishments. He had gained his sharingan. He was, by his clan's standards, a true Uchiha. He seethed on it a little bit but decided to let it pass. Naruto did a great job in Wave, and his achievements was also a Team Achievement. The Hokage dismissed the team and allowed them to get some rest. They all decided to get something to eat. While walking down the street the team began to see the glares and heated looks that were sent the blonds way. At first they thought that maybe Naruto had pranked a few people and made them mad, but they hadn't been in the village for a while. No one hold's grudges over pranks that long. It was a little disturbing. They felt an ominous aura coming from the blond and some of the villagers began sweating. Sasuke himself had his eyes widened by the feeling Naruto was giving off. It reminded him of how Naruto went off on Inari and then controlled himself. But here Naruto was giving them a run for their money. Any glare was returned ten fold and felt like it would burn a hole in the targets head. Naruto walked with his hands behind his head looking up at the sky after everyone went about their normal business.

Kakashi was ashamed of his village. The sacrifice his sensei made for the safety of the village was something that was to be upheld. He, himself, saw Naruto as a hero but he just didn't know how to train the boy. He had been keeping details of the boy's style and made a note in his mind to send the boy to Asuma or Gai to work on his Taijutsu. Naruto passed the weapon shop and remembered the set of claws he had to pick up. He also used this time to pick up a new outfit as the claws wouldn't go with the orange and blue combination. Naruto asked them if they would mind going in the store with him to help him pick up a few things. No one disagreed and followed Naruto in. "Hey I came to pick up my order, sir." Naruto said keeping polite. "Naruto, there's no need to be formal with me. Your order is ready!" he said as the man placed a box on the counter and opened it up. Naruto handed the man the receipt and began to try them on. They fit well and felt light weight. He could develop his own style and just to irk the villagers he would name it the Kitsune Ken. Naruto then placed the claws in the box and began to look around. He found some black pants and a black sleeveless shirt. He also found black sandals and some gloves as well to go with the outfit. He decided to replace the cloth on his head band and made it black as well but longer as to flow down his back. He also selected a red and black sleeveless coat that he could wear incase he wanted to make a little bit of an enterence some time. After trying the gear on he picked a mesh sleeveless shirt to go underneath his outfit and picked up a few scrolls and some senbon. He was going to make a summoning seal for his claws so he could channel chakra into them and summon them on his hands in the right position by channeling chakra alone. After he paid for his clothes and had copies of the set delivered to his home he made a shadow clone to deliver the claws and work on the summoning seal there at the house on the claws.

Team Seven left the store and continued down to a restaurant. It was fairly new, and the food was said to be pretty good. Kakashi and Sasuke walked in and got nod's to go in. As Sakura walked past with Naruto following up the man at the door stopped Naruto. "I'm sorry sir, but I have orders to keep you out of this establishment." he said maintaining his composure. He was obviously just doing his job and had no ill intent towards the boy. But he needed this job and he'd be damned if he'd lose it because of morals. Naruto growled a little bit and began to turn around. "You guys go ahead and eat, I'll go to Ichiraku's and get some food." He said disappearing in a shushin. Kakashi and Sasuke looked a little angry at the man's words, but Sakura looked impassive. 'Maybe he pranked the owners too before they opened the restaurant. I swear Naruto has really mellowed out compared to the academy but I guess the damage is done.' She thought to herself. She knew how right that statement in itself was. Naruto himself sat on the stool at Ichiraku's.

Iruka was the only one who wished him no ill will but now he was dead. Shinobi that came from civilian households hated Naruto with a passion. The shinobi belonging to the clans of the village all held respect for Naruto. Even the impassive Hyuuga did. Althought they thought he had no skill as a shinobi due to his results in the academy, they had no ill will towards him. Contrary to many people's belief the majority of the council even liked the boy. The female member of Sarutobi's old team even brought him vegetables regularly after he requested to go on a healthier diet. Homura himself was able to get Naruto discounts on shinobi items and even helped the boy out on occasions. But all of this was futile against the villager's hatred and wrath at times.

But the Uchiha boy was a different matter. The civilian shinobi and even the villagers hailed him as a genius and the legendary Last of the Uchiha's. They were ignorant to the true goals of the Uchiha clan. Hell all the shinobi save for a select few were. But many of the higher-ups who knew what the Uchiha were planning disliked him for that fact alone. They had no hate for him for his clan's movements but they wondered where his allegiances lie. He was willing to run over anyone in the way of his goal and sacrifice them for the path he walked. This was troublesome for lack of a better word and they made sure to have him watched. To be honest, both Naruto and Sasuke were the ONLY genin to ever have ANBU and other shinobi watch them like this. Why else would they be placed on Kakashi Hatake's, Legendary Sharingan no Kakashi and student of the Fourth Hokage, team. Kakashi watched them like a hawk and the boy's never knew it. The only time Kakashi really let them out of his sight was when they went their different ways. Kakashi just didn't know how to train all of them well.

Kakashi had some thinking of his own to do. He decided he was going to talk to Naruto and ask him what prompted him to change himself. He had read Naruto's records, even hearing it from the Hokage himself. This was a radical change. This Naruto was more collected and ruthless. Even going so far to inflict damage into an already defeated opponent to get answers. And that was grounds enough for Kakashi to have worries. The Naruto from the academy wouldn't hurt anyone, not even his enemies, as he had done Haku. Naruto looked willing to kill if he didn't get his answers or didn't even like him. Willing to rob a company of millions. This Naruto was a true shinobi. Willing to do what it took to get the job done. While Kakashi liked how Naruto was coming along as a shinobi. He didn't want one so young to go through what he did and end up putting the Mission before the true value of helping one's comrades.

Naruto sat on the swing outside of the academy and just thought. Someone close to him, the only person to ever accept him for who he was, was killed for doing just that. Taking a deadly strike to save Naruto's life. Why...Why hadn't Iruka just let that blade hit him. Then it would all be over. Naruto clenched his fist. He need to release his rage and he'd be damned if his claw's didn't get a test run tonight. He took out a senbon and some ink and began to tattoo the seal onto his hands. He flexed after admiring his work and began to channel chakra. The claws appeared on his hands in the right position and fit perfectly. He launched a test swing and liked how it went. Naruto had also picked up one little thing from the store but he didn't want them to see what it was. It was a face mask, like Kakashi's but black. He placed it on his face and head out to the Forest of Death. He had stumbled upon this training ground by accident and found some dangerous creatures in there. He had also begun to fight them for sport. They proved a challenge and even on occasions almost killed him. But he used those experiences to build himself up. Plus all his scars were healed the next morning so none had clue of his dangerous training. As Naruto stepped into the forest he released a little bit of Kyuubi's chakra. It was enough to turn his eyes red and form small fangs and nails but Naruto kept the chakra low. He ran through the forest with amazing speed. He realized he'd need to get training weights if he planned to get faster and made a note to ask Gai where they got theirs. That night the sounds of animals wailing in death could be heard through out the village and died down through the night along side Naruto's anger. He had found a new way to vent his anger. And it felt so good.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto had talked to Gai and had gotten something different than Lee's weight. They were not heavy at all and only worked once they were put on. The weights consisted of a weight jacket which was black, forearm weights, ankle weights, and a weight that went around the waist. They reacted to the user's chakra and the more chakra you had, the heavier they were. Needless to say, Naruto could barely move once the weights were activated. He had to pump his body with the Kyuubi's chakra to even move. After a few weeks of practicing with the weight's and Kyuubi repairing and restoring Naruto's ripped muscles back to pristine shape. Naruto was able to move at half his original speed. He could walk normally, but when running he seemed to be in a permanet jog. Unless he removed the weights that is. His growth with the weights were phenomenal. When he and Lee sparred without their weights he could match Lee blow for blow. If Lee opened a gate, Naruto would just push harder. It wasn't until the third gate that Naruto needed to use the foxes chakra to keep up after that. Naruto had also found someone who was, in sorts, a kindred spirit to him. Anko, Tokubetsu Jounin of the hidden leaf village, happened to be eating dango's when a young boy walked up to her. He looked in her eye's and could tell that she had a similar fate that he did. He looked at her and asked her. "Are you a jinchuriki as well?" This surprised Anko as she wasn't informed that the boy had learned about what he contained. Once over her shock she started laughing. "What ever gave you that dumb idea kid?" She asked. Naruto said something she'd never forget with an emotionless voice that sent shivers down her spine. "The pain..Being alone, being hated. I can see it in your eyes." he said as his eyes lost their light a little bit. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He said before walking away. Needless to say this enraged Anko and she dragged him to the forest of death for a fight. They fought for a while with Naruto not landing a blow on the Jounin and taking many himself. That was...until he took off his weights. Anko was hard pressed to fight the boy full on. She had wanted to teach him a lesson about trying to understand something he couldn't comprehend yet.

Naruto launched a strike with his fist as his after image faded from view and Anko had taken a hard hit to the stomach. Naruto stood up correctly with his hands by his side. "I want you to teach me about Assassination. You specialize in Torture and Interrogation, but I heard that if someone was to want to learn true assassination techniques, they could come to you. I want to increase my stealth skills..." He finished. Naruto was told about the Chuunin exams not long ago, and was deciding to use his time to train. Kakashi, being tardy as usual, wasn't going to say anything until the last moment. Naruto already knew in a week before having over heard two chuunin's talking about it. "What's in it for me kid." Anko asked. She was still a little winded after the punch. The kid had skills but if she resorted to jutsu she could probably out trump the kid. "Companionship and someone to help you bear through your pain." he responded. Anko's eyes widened. "What?" she asked quietly. "I can see it all over you. You hate being alone. Sure you have friends, but no one really understands your pain. And I don't want to be alone either. I've already lost one person for protecting me. I want to become strong so it never has to happen again." He finished. Anko sat on the ground and thought about it for a moment. 'I could train the kid...He has potential. But I would need other shinobi to help me train him as well. Maybe if I give him the basic ANBU training and see how he works with that. If he survives that I'll be impressed.' She finished thinking. "Alright...we'll see how well you do. Meet me here tomorrow at 5 am. Don't be late.

**Five AM the next Day (Training Ground 44)**

Naruto appeared via shushin at the same time Anko did. They began the training with a light spar, followed by exercises. Sit up, push ups, squats, jumping jacks, punching exercises, kicking exercises, jumping exercises, running exercises. The list went on. After they switched to jutsu and worked on jutsu strategy and methods of techniques to use. With Naruto's extensive knowledge of seals, he was on the fast track to utilizing the Uzumaki blood within him and was becoming an exceptional seal user. Not to mention being the son of the Yellow Flash ment he had potential in itself. Genius like that was always passed down from generation to generation. After working on jutsu they finished with a heavy spar. When the spar was over Anko told him to take laps around the forest to cool off. It was 10 pm when Naruto finished training and collapsed on the ground. "You..are...insane..." he said in between breaths. Anko kicked him in the ribs. "Quit your bitching. I've seen weaker shinobi do better than you've done." she lied. The kid just did an ANBU level training regiment. And even some ANBU hurled after doing this. The ANBU themselves never got used to it. It was designed to push them to their limits every time by increasing the reps you did after mastering an aspect of it. As they left the grounds Naruto and Anko walked side by side. Anko, being 24 and Naruto being half her age made the big sister little brother thing look funny. No one knew who the Masked kid was. He had blond hair and blue eyes and reminded them of a certain Hokage and pariah of the village. But they all focused their glares on the Traitors student. Naruto released more of that Ominous Aura he had of his. This caused the villagers to sweat bullets. No way was Naruto going to let another stupid villager ruin a good thing for him. He finally had someone who understood him. Anko was touched by the protectiveness of her new little brother. But couldn't help but shiver at that feeling. It was as if Orochimaru had just walked through the gates himself. She remembered his Killing intent and how it could even paralyze a person. Naruto was studying the general skill and was making leaps and bounds by testing it on the villagers. He once made some poor old man who tried to hit him with his cane piss himself.

After eating a few dango and a few drinks of sake Naruto helped Anko walk home. Anko walked in and said goodnight to the boy. But to hear his words shocked her. "Night big sis." he said and disappeared in a Shushin. Only a day of knowing the kid and he already called her big sis. Anko didn't know that Naruto had a small habit he couldn't usually break. Anyone who showed him Kindness earned them a special place in the boy's heart. And this caused him to view them dearly. This was the reason he called the Hokage, old man or grandfather. The same could be said for Teuchi and Ayame. Anko thought about it for a little while then whispered "Goodnight little brother" and closed her door. She finally had someone to relate with her pain.

Anko and Naruto constantly kept training the same way during the week. Once Team Seven was given their chuunin exam forms, Naruto was one of the few who had no problem taking the option of taking the test. He knew he'd show up the next day. He just had to hope that his teammates would be as well.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto appeared in a Shushin followed by Sasuke and Sakura. Wait...Sakura? Shushin? Maybe she had been training. What ever Sakura had been up to, she had learned a few tricks or something. They couldn't wait to see what she could do on the battle field. Sasuke walked in front followed by Sakura then Naruto. Naruto didn't mind, he didn't care if Sasuke determined himself Team Leader. Naruto only cared about getting stronger to prove to the world how strong he was. As they were walking they realized there were two people using a genjutsu on the door to make it say 301. Sasuke almost said something but Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You do realize it's to weed out the weaker contestants? Right?" he finished up with. Sasuke thought about it. Would he really like weaker people in the exam so as to get a free pass to the real ordeal. It was a small price to pay and would mean a little bit more work, but it also ment that some of the strong ones who knew might gun for them. They continued walking in silence. With that being said a young boy with bushy eyebrows and a bowl cut in a green jumpsuit stood in their path. "Sasuke Uchiha. I wish for you to fight me." he asked. Naruto knew the kid already from their spars. Sasuke couldn't keep up with this boy's speed with his weights on. So it would only be suicidal for Sasuke to fight the boy now. What if he got injured. "Lee-san. You know I can't allow you to fight Sasuke. What if he got injured. Our team would be hurt. That would be most unyouthful." Naruto said. He was mentally smiling in the back of his mind.

Lee's eyes widened as he got down on his forehead and bowed to them. "Gomen, I didn't mean to cause any problems, I just wanted to see what the Last of the Uchiha's could do." he finished explaining. "Save it for the tournaments Lee." Naruto said as he walked past. "Let's go...we've wasted enough time." He said. Sasuke didn't like this and looked at Naruto. "And who said you're in charge of this team?" Sasuke asked. "The same person who put you in charge. Now let's go." Naruto finished. Naruto was getting impatient. Ego's were clashing and now was not the time. They made their way to the room. Kakashi greeted them explaining that if only two or less had came, their journy to the Chuunin exams would have stopped there. He wished them luck and they entered the room. Inside they met a lot of old friends and even some new ones. While engaged in chit chat the participants were glaring at them. Damn rookies were going to be easy pickings. As the rookie nine were chattering away a young man with silver hair was talking. "You know...You really should keep it down, you're causing a lot of attention to be directed at you." He said calmly. The rookies stopped talking and looked around to see everyone looking at them with evil intentions in their eyes. Naruto stepped foward. He unleashed a small portion of the Kyuubi's chakra and talked ever so lightly. "If any of you try to hurt my team or fellow shinobi. I'll kill you. Plain and simple." The weight of his words bore down on some of the inexperienced Genin's. But one genin he had met before hadn't flinched.

Earlier That Day

Naruto was walking down the street with Sakura. "So Sakura, did you train for the exam." he asked he assumed no but the answer he got suprised him. "Actually Naruto...I've been training for a while. I went to talk to Kurenai-sensei to learn a few genjutsu. I have a few tricks up my sleeves now." she finished. Naruto was impressed that Sakura learned genjutsu. "That's great I'm really im-...Ok rocks aren't square guys come on out." He said all of a sudden. A large blast of smoke and coughing followed by the words. "Udon that's too much gun powder!" and the sound of a "Sorry" reaching their ears provided all the information they needed. "Konohamaru what are you doing?" He asked. "I wanted to see...if you'd train me some more. I finally learned that one technique you taught me look.!" he said as he formed a hand sign and transformed perfectly into Naruto. "Impressive eh?" Konohamaru asked. "Alright. I'll train you some more today before the Chuunin exams. Run off and play for a little while. Me and Sakura have some things to discuss." He finished. Konohamaru ran off smirking before looking back and shouted. "Have fun with your Girl-friend!" causing Sakura to turn red and chase after them. Konohamaru ran faster while laughing but wasn't looking where he was going. "Hey you little brat...You bumped into me!" a voice said. Suddenly Konohamaru was lifted up. "Ah..hey..lemme go!" he said while struggling. "No way brat, you owe me an apology. And I'm going to teach you a lesson about bumping into the Son of the Kazekage." he finished. He drew back his fist as he felt cold hard steel on his throat. "I wouldn't do that if I was you. It'd be a shame to send the Kazekage's son home in a box for attacking the Hokage's Grandson. And anyone who attacks my students usually end up missing body parts." His voice was cold and dark. The boy wasn't intimidated though until he felt that chakra. "Wh...what are you?" He asked. "The second coming of the devil if you cross me." Naruto replied. "Now let...him...Go." he finished as he pressed the blade in drawing blood. Just then a figure jumped down from the tree with an insane look on his face. "Mother...says you're really strong...And she wants your blood." he finished as his smile only increased more. Naruto was a little stunned. He hadn't even sensed him coming but could feel something off about him. "And who are you?" Naruto asked looking at the boy. Kankuro dropped the Sarutobi child to the ground. Konohamaru ran behind Sakura and stuck his tounge out. "You're gonna get it now! That's my big brother!" he finished. "I am Sabaku no Gaara...and you are?" he asked looking at Naruto his grin was slowly going back. He was regaining control. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Sorry about your friend here. He shouldn't attack a Hokage's Grandson out in the open like that. People have been killed for less." He said removing the blade as Kankuro gulped. "Gaara I'm-" "Save it Kankurou. You're a disgrace to our village. I should kill you myself. I apologize for his actions Uzumaki-san." Gaara interrupted. "Just call me Naruto." He finished. "I look foward to seeing you again Uzumaki." Gaara said walking off. "I can't wait either." Naruto said looking at his retreating form. Sasuke dropped down from the tree. "What was that all about?" Sasuke asked. "Nothing...I think our day is going to get a little more interesting soon."

Present Time

"Alright Maggots settle down! I'm Ibiki Morino and I'm the prompter for the First Test of the Chuunin Exams." Said a booming voice as a man wearing a bandana type head band and a black trench coat appeared. After a little bit of talking and a little crying from some of the genin, they were assigned sheets and given instructions to the test. The questions were obviously harder than most genin would be able to answer. So it was obvious the point of the exam was to cheat with the given rules. Naruto figured it out after thinking for a little while and decided to just wait a little while. Hinata offered him the answers she collected and he gladly took them. As time passed on Ibiki voice sounded as he told them to put their pencils down. "Alright Maggots. It's time for the Tenth Question. Now before I ask this question I want you to know you don't have to take the question. But if you refuse to take the question, you and your team are disqualified." He was interrupted. "Then we'll OBVIOUSLY take the question." "Not so fast. If you agree to take the question and get it wrong, then you AUTOMATICALLY fail the Chuunin exams and can Never become a genin AGAIN!" he finished lacing it with a little bit of killing intent to get the point across. At this point a lot of genin rose their hands and started moving. Sakura was getting ready to but a stare from Naruto and Sasuke backed her out of it. It wasn't a hateful glare. It was more like "You're better than this Sakura...We have faith in you." type of stare. It gave her determination and she steeled her resolve. Genin were dropping like flies and even one of the rookie teams rose their hands. Hinata with her confidence issues was fairing well but it looked as if she was going to crack any moment. Then a thought occured to her. Why should rank mean anything to her. She was the Hyuuga heiress, all she needed to do was get stronger. Caught up in her thoughts as Ibiki asked if anyone else wanted to quit. With the hand full of genin's left over he congratulated them on passing the first stage of the chuunin exam's before Anko came busting through the window.

"Alright maggots I'm your-" "What is it with you people and calling us baby flies!" Laughter filled the room as Anko's eyebrow twitched and she hit the voice over the top of the head with her fist. "And what is it with you interrupting your big sister!" she said as Naruto laid on the ground out cold. "Alright kiddies let's Go. We're going to Practice Arena 44." there was a large gulp at this point from one Naruto Uzumaki. "The forest of Death."


	9. Chapter 9

"Alright Listen up here are the rules for the second exam." Anko started. "Plain and simple anything goes once the bell starts. This will be a no holds barred scroll battle. Meaning you genin will fight over possession of two types of scroll. Each team will either have a heaven scroll or an earth scroll. There are fourteen teams this year that made it passed the first exam. So that means seven of you will have the earth scroll and seven will have the heaven." The teams left were the Sound, Sand, Teams 7, 8, and 9, an Ame team, Kabuto's team, and seven other teams. They each got their scrolls and were headed off to different gates. Once the gate's were opened Team Seven dashed off into the forest to secure a hiding place.

They had a Heaven Scroll meaning they needed an earth scroll. Naruto wanted to test himself against the Sand Genin but realized his team wouldn't fair well. One on One Naruto might be able to beat Gaara, but with team work like team seven's against actual brothers and sisters...he didn't think they had much of a chance. Sakura was not stronger than Temari and Sasuke could handle Kankuro, but Sasuke would probably go for Gaara and be obliterated within minutes. Sasuke heard a rustle in the bushes and threw a few Kunai into the bush. A yell came from the bush revealing a downed Iwa Genin. At that moment the genin smiled and turned into earth as Sasuke had triggered the trap. The earth gave way to reveal an explosive tag that caused Sasuke to activate the Substitution technique. Two genin appeared over Naruto and Sakura. Sakura acted quickly forming a hand sign for a quick genjutsu and disappeared in a blur of Sakura petals. The genin realized the genjutsu and went to cancel it but the time needed would take a quick second. And a second was all Naruto need to stick his hands out and launch a powerful wind wave that blasted the genin's beaking them from the genjutsu and knocking them out cold. Sasuke had his own little battle against the last Iwa genin knocking him out cold and subduing him with ninja wire. As Sasuke appeared with the bundled boy over his shoulder he threw him on top of his team mates as Naruto searched for a scroll.

"Heaven scroll...Bust.." Naruto said. "Maybe we could use it and trade it for an earth scroll for a team that has two earth scrolls." Sakura said. "But we won't know which team has which scroll unless we ask, and doing that will only make us targets." Sasuke responded. While the team was coming up with a plan, a large breeze suddenly appeared then intensified once it reached the group. Sasuke and Sakura were blasted over to another field while Naruto was sent hurling into the open and waiting mouth of a giant snake. Naruto, as he landed in the snakes mouth, equiped his claws and used wind chakra. After gathering enough chakra he unleashed a powerful slash at the stomach of the beast cutting through it and making his way out. "Damn snake, ruined my clothes..." Naruto thought. He then heard the sounds of a battle starting not far away. He made his way over to his team mates to see them battling a Kusa genin with snake like movements and a really long tongue. He landed in a bush and observed. He could see Sakura and Sasuke recovering from the wind blast. "Sasuke-kun...It's so nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about the Last of the Uchiha. I wanted to test you myself and see how well you'd perform." the Kusa genin said licking her lips. "Just who the hell are you..." He started until an unbearable amount of killing intent flooded his and Sakura's senses. They each froze for a moment while all of a sudden they could see their bodies being torn to shreds by blades of wind. To end their suffering a kunai would imbed itself in their skulls. They stood their mouths agape when the kunai struck in a silent scream. Naruto realized instantly that that was the skill Anko was talking about. The ability to paralyze enemies with killing intent alone. Needless to say Naruto made a large amount of clones. Who ever this was, they were no push over. That was an advanced skill. And not even most Jounin could pull it off. The clones went in one by one. The first one intercepted the dashing Kusa ninja as she aimed for Sasuke. By using a kunai it came down on the Kusa ninja causing them to halt of be slashed. The clone threw the kunai and formed a few hand seals as another clone dropped down holding a seal. A blast of wind came from the genin at the same time as the clone finished his hand seals. The kunai multiplied into many and were picking up speed. The force of the Kunai were enough to cause holes in the tree's as they went through them. The Kusa ninja turn to mud and disappeared. "Damn it where'd she" suddenly two clones popped out of existence. Naruto searched through their memories and they had felt the attacks come from the top right corner of their skulls. Meaning she was in the tree's above them. He formed another clone and had it pop out of the of the forest and go after her. Once Naruto reached the genin the battle truely began.

The Kusa genin launched a left punch that was blocked by Naruto followed by a right that was dodged and a kick that was grabbed by Naruto who then launched a leg sweep and using the leg attempted to slam the genin on the ground. But the Kusa Genin was flexible and used the momentum to launch themselves into a flip after leaving Naruto's grasp. Naruto charged at the Genin launching a powerful right which was caught in the Genin's hand. "My, my, my...What have we here. You seem talented." The kusa genin spoke. "And you smell of snakes...What is your business here Kusa Ninja." Naruto asked. He was holding his stance in case anything was about to happen. "I just wanted to test young Sasuke-kun over there...But you've caught my interest. There's a fire within you just waiting to come out child. And I'm going to bring that fire out of you. Even if it kills you." The ninja said before kicking Naruto hard in the stomach dispelling him.

"Damn it...That ninja is too strong to be a genin." Naruto came to the conclusion. He only had one choice. Use the Kyuubi's power. The Clones dispersed after sending the chakra back to Naruto as he dipped into the foxes power and his claws grew and his wisker marks darkened. He then was covered in a deep red aura as he launched a surprise attack from behind the Kusa Shinobi. The slash itself split the ninja in two, but the strangest thing happened. The Kusa ninja was stiched back together...by snakes. "What...the..fu-" was the last thing Naruto said before getting hit into a tree and became dizzy from spinning so far. He stood up and looked at the Kusa ninja as they started moving sideways and back and forward to confuse Naruto. Naruto regained his senses just enough to block and dodge a combination of punches and kicks from the Kusa nin. But he was quickly losing ground. He gathered chakra and summoned his chakra reinforced steel claws and channeled wind chakra into them and increased their cutting power and length. By sending a lot of chakra through them, he impaled the Kusa ninja as they fell on the ground. Suddenly the Kusa's ninja mouth opened up and there was a tall pale man with dark hair and a interesting outfit. "What delicious power...you'll make a perfect addition to my list should I be able to deal with that little pet inside of you." He said as his fingers became dark purple. Naruto stepped back realizing the seal, but it was too late. The ninja was upon him and launched a powerful hand into his stomach directly onto the seal. He then extended his fangs biting Naruto in his neck as a seal appeared looking like three curved lines. He threw Naruto onto the ground as he got caught on a tree branch.

"Sorry Sasuke-kun, but I can't afford to play with you any more...Battling dear Naruto-kun here took a lot of out me. But i'll catch you later. If you want the same power Naruto has. Seek me out." he said while vanishing. Sasuke fell to his knee's as did Sakura from witnessing the battle. One thing was clear. If they didn't find cover for night fall...things were going to get very difficult.


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke sat across from Sakura looking at the fire that lit their teammates face. "Naruto...there's so much we don't know about you. What are you hiding?" Sakura said out loud. She wanted to be there for Naruto and Sasuke, but she just wasn't strong enough. The entire time Naruto had been fighting neither moved an inch to help him. Not that they stood a chance. They just watched him fight head strong against some unknown man. Sakura racked her brain for answers and remembered hearing a story about the Three Sannin. They each held a summoning contract and were known by their summons. Jiraiya was the summoner of frogs, Tsunade the summoner of slugs and the summoner of snakes was...Oh god. "Sasuke...That man Naruto was fighting. That was Orochimaru of the Sannin. A legendary ninja...He's lucky he's not dead. At least...I hope he's not." she said before checking his forehead. Naruto had been in shakes and pains. He was heating up and seemed to be miserable.

"No...don't...Why are you doing this? Why!? I'm not a demon. I'm a kid! STOP!" Naruto kept calling out. Sakura was silently wiping away tears wondering what kind of treatment Naruto had been going through. He seemed so cold some times. Not like the child he once was. Not since after the Genin exams. They had taken time to get to know the new Naruto. He was cold, calculating, and didn't do anything without reason. But most of all, he was a killer. He could kill in cold blood without so much of an emotion. And that unnerved Sakura and Sasuke the most. "He's a lot like him...My brother." Sasuke stated. "Sasuke what do you-" "Ever since he killed our family...ever since he walked out those gates...Not a day goes by where I wish I was strong enough to stop him. I may want to kill him, but I want to know why...Why did he do that to the clan, why was he doing this. He was my brother. We used to laugh, play...we were family." Sasuke said as the stick he was using to play with the fire was being gripped tighter and tighter until it snapped. "Sasuke..." Sakura said lowly. "How does he find the will to push on. I remember my brother slaughtering my clan. I didn't rush in and attack him...I didn't do anything but cower and fear him. And after it was all said and done. I began to hate him" Sasuke finished.

He looked at Naruto with something akin to jealousy. "How can he find the will to push on. This isn't the first time we've heard him say those things in his sleep Sakura. He's done it before. In wave...it was more quiet but at night I could hear him calling out for help. I want to know...I need to know...What is it that causes him so much pain. Why is his hatred greater than mine!" Sasuke was now shouting. He didn't like being the one not getting the attention and deep down he knew this. He was so used to his mothers attention and after her death he craved attention. With Naruto in the light he couldn't get the attention he wanted. But he also was angry. Not at Naruto but at the fact that another person had to grow up with a similar pain to him. Suddenly a figure dropped down infront of them wearing silver glasses with silver hair. "Do you really want to know the truth about your friend...I can promise you may not like it..." Someone said in a sing song voice. Sasuke pulled out a kunai. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Now now Sasuke. I know we just met earlier but you should really remember the names of people who try to help you. I'm Kabuto Yakushi. Remember me?" He said holding up a hand. "What do you want." Sasuke said lowering the kunai a little. Sakura was keeping her guard up and watching him. "You want the truth, so I'm prepared to give it to you on one condition." He asked. "And that would be?" Sasuke asked. "You see...I'm lost from my team and need someone to escort me to the tower. I have two earth scrolls and we already have a heaven scroll. And I'm willing to pay you with the second Earth scroll for your services. I'll even help you take care of your friend there." He said. Sasuke thought about it for a second before agreeing. What did they have to lose. They could travel with this man and possibly keep their life. Or they could travel alone with a unconcious teammate and possibly die. The deck was stacked against them.

"The truth about Naruto was revealed not to long ago. Actually, during your mission when you left the village. The law uplifted about Naruto's status was the hot topic for the day. It was the moment when everything for Naruto was really going down hill. Because people could openly refuse him entrance to any facility he wished to enter. And it's all because of something that was placed outside of his control." Kabuto finished. "What do you mean...What is Naruto?" Sakura asked a little bewildered. "He's the holder of the nine tailed demon fox. The same fox which almost destroyed this entire village not long ago." Kabuto finished. Shock was evident on Sakura and Sasuke's face. Sasuke walked over and lifted up Naruto's shirt and was able to see a seal around his stomach. Obvious from the chakra that was within Naruto battling for control. "What...what is that?" Sasuke asked. "That, Sasuke, is the Yondaime's Seal that contains the chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox." Sasuke thought back. The red aura that appeared around him in Wave, the aura that appeared around him earlier. That was the foxes power. But...Wasn't he holding it back. What if it was slipping, what if he was a danger to them all. Sasuke pulled a kunai and prepared to stab Naruto but then thought for a moment before Sakura lunged on top of Naruto protecting him with her body. "Sasuke!" she yelled. Kabuto sat on the ground and watched the show.

"He's...a hero. Yet he's treated like trash. Alone...no family. No one to care for him. He's been alone longer than I have. His pain is stronger. His hate for this village and yet he still continues to fight for them every day. It's insane." Sasuke said as he fell to the ground on his butt as realization hit him. "Indeed. While many villagers and some shinobi view him as the fox, some see him as the holder of great power and respect him for it." Kabuto said. Sasuke dropped the kunai and placed his hands on his head. "Gaaaaaaah!" Naruto started screaming as chakra began to pulsate around him. But the chakra was OBVIOUSLY foul. It was purple and swirling around him. Lines began to form all over his body as his eye's opened but he looked as if he was choking. He then began to reach for his pack and pull out a piece of paper and pressed it to his stomach. A large hissing sound activated as the seal on top of his vanished. He began to breath heavily as his senses were clouded with rage-like orders from his mind. He wanted to maim, he wanted to kill, but he knew better than to let his emotions get the better of him. He clenched his hand and the blood began to fall down. The curse mark slowly began to regress back to Naruto's neck as he flopped down on his back breathing heavily. "What*huff**huff*the hell*huff*was that..." Naruto said. Sasuke and Sakura looked at him.

Naruto regained his breath as he felt the foxes chakra running through his body and start healing him. It was also helping battle the curse seal and was helping purify his system. "That...power...It was amazing. But it...it was so tainted." He said out loud. "Naruto are you ok?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked at her. "I'll be fine." Sasuke stood up. "Why didn't you tell us?" Sasuke said while looking at the ground. Naruto looked at Sasuke then he noticed Kabuto. He began to put two and two together slowly. "What did you tell them Kabuto..." Naruto asked. "Only what they needed to know Naruto Uzumaki, Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox!" Kabuto exclaimed. Naruto was livid. "How dare you...You have NO right to be telling my secerets like...The Third Hokage...he lifted the law didn't he?" He said as he slumped down. Kabuto nodded and Naruto caught it. "Why Naruto...Why did you not tell me. Why didn't you tell us...All this time you just hide this from your own team?" Sasuke said. This suprised Naruto.

"Why do you even care...You have your own issues to deal with, why bother yourself with mine. Don't you have a brother you wish to kill any how." Then realization hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks. Naruto never had no family. To kill one's own family was like stepping on Naruto's face and make him realize while other's would kill their own family he was denied ever having one. "You don't have any right to judge me you Nine Tailed Freak..." Sasuke exclaimed before lifting his head. "Sasuke...you shouldn't say such-" "Shut up Sakura..." Naruto said. "I want to hear this." He said before slowly standing up. "What was that Dobe!" Sasuke said taking a stance. "You heard me...Teme" Naruto said taking his own stance. In the blink of an eye they were upon each other before Kabuto appeared before them with his hands criss cross blocking the punches. "Now...it wouldn't be good business for employee's to fight in front of their client would it?" Kabuto shook his hands to get the sting out of the blows. 'They were going to knock each others head off.' he thought to himself. "Your brother killed your family. I get that. I understand you wanting to kill him. But did he ever tell you while he did it Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke sat down for a minute before placing his chin on his knee's. He looked really vunerable as he explained the massacre from his own eyes. "I was coming home from the academy one day. It was eerily quiet until I heard a scream. I ran down the ally and there I saw it. Blood every where. My own brethern. The shop keeper...the police force...even my uncle and aunt who owned a small store. Dead with their blood and shock evident on their face. I ran home as fast as I could. When I opened the door. I stood there watching as my brother killed our father and mother. I asked him why and do you know what answer I got." He said before he looked up. "He did it merely to test his abilities. He said when I have the same eyes as him to seek him out and gain vengeance. He told me to run, cling to life. And that's the last thing I remembered." He said. The painful memory awoke something in Sasuke. His eyes widened as he remembered his brothers face. "He was crying that day...I'd never seen my brother cry." He said. "And you want to kill him. The pain is evident on his face. He obviously didn't do it to test his own limits." Naruto said. This was the first time Sasuke openly talked about what happened. It hurt him a lot.

Sakura stood there in silence. She wasn't anything like these two. She wasn't openly hated, maybe by Ino but they were still friends, she had a family and neither one of them ever tried to kill her. She followed the rules and never had anything hard to go through other than these chuunin exams. "Why didn't you tell us Naruto...?" Sakura asked. Naruto swallowed hard and admitted something he had never said to anyone before. "I was afraid." He said as a lone tear fell down his eye. "I never wanted to get attached to anyone ever again. Do you know how I passed my genin exam?" Naruto asked as he looked at them. Both of them could tell this was something that was going to be a doozy so they both braced themselves. "Months ago, when I failed the genin exam. I sat alone on the swing. I could hear the villagers approval that the 'Demon Brat' didn't pass the exams. Then he came along. Mizuki sensei...He offered me a way to get genin. All I had to do was pass a simple test. I wasn't exactly the brightest kid in the bunch such a short time back. But I took it any ways. All I had to do was steal a scroll from the Hokage's mansion. The sexy jutsu I used to use knocked the old pervert out pretty easily. I ran with the scroll into the forest and that's when I practiced and learned the new Kage Bunshin technique. I learned the Tajuu Kage Bunshin as well. I trained hard to master the one skill I sucked at the most. By this time, Iruka caught up to me. He asked me what I was doing and I explained the test to him. He was then pinned by shuriken to the wall. Mizuki appeared to be the one who threw the kunai. He asked for the scroll but Iruka told me not to. I held onto the scroll for dear life. Then Mizuki told me the reason why they hated me so. He told me I was the nine tailed fox. Iruka defended me stating that he didn't believe that. Not any more. When Mizuki went in for the kill...Iruka took it instead of me." he said as the tears freely flowed and his voice cracked.

"It was the first and only time. Someone had done something so brave for me. There was so much pain on his face...so much hurt. He didn't have to die for me. He didn't have to do what he did. But he did. The anger inside was too much. I went berserk. I made a lot of clones and beat Mizuki until he was only identifiable by his dental records. It was the first time I killed someone. And the first time I realized that in order to survive in the shinobi world. I had to become strong. I trained myself day and night. Pushing my limits...And now...look at me. I'm still a sniveling kid." He said as he wiped the tears form his eyes.

"Naruto..." Sakura said. He placed a hand on his shoulder and for the first time she brough him into a hug. He cried harder than he had in so long. Sakura held him and comforted him. Then Sasuke did something unexpected and stood up and walked over to Naruto. "You're not alone Naruto...Not any more. We're here for you." Sasuke then placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You're not alone Naruto...Not any more." he said.

Kabuto slowly clapped his hands. "How sweet...we should probably get moving though. It's been three days in this forest and we don't have much time. Let's go." He said as they rushed off to the tower. Little did they know that this moment would greatly affect Naruto and change his outlook on some people. He could trust Sasuke and Sakura. He knew that for sure. But he felt closer to his team. And for the first time in years. He felt accepted.


	11. The Chuunin Exams(Part One)

Kabuto and Team 7 made it to the tower with minimal interference. They realized that a few of the teams might scope out the towers and try to ambush weaker teams to get the scrolls they needed so they walked quietly and stealthily. Well as quiet as genin's could. Once inside the tower Kabuto split off from them thanking them for helping him get back to his team. There they came across a phrase on the wall. deciphering the phrase and opening both scrolls a chuunin appeared and congratulated them on passing the second phase of the chuunin exam. They all exhaled a breath as Naruto touched his shoulder where he was bitten. "I know this looks bad, but we shouldn't tell anyone except Kakashi-sensei." he finished. They both nodded as Naruto moved to speak again. "Also, this is too minor for me to forfiet and leave now, so no matter what I'm going to continue fighting against this thing."

It was then that Sakura took a firm stance and looked at Naruto. "You shouldn't fight in this condition Naruto, you know better than this. Don't tell me that you're going to risk that thing corrupting your ability to fight!?" she said as she took on a motherly tone. Naruto appreciated it, he really did, but he couldn't accept the fact of giving up. "I just can't do it...I can't give up this easily, not to this thing at least." he said. "I'm going to fight Sakura. I need to fight. I need...I need to see if I'm strong enough." He said as he walked off. Sasuke understood the need to prove ones strength but lately he was rethinking why he wanted to prove his strength. Naruto was becoming the closest thing to a Brother he could recognize since Itachi. He didn't want to see him hurt, but he knew Naruto was a strong individual. "I say he should fight Sakura. There's nothing we can do to persuade him out of it...might as well let him try." Sasuke said as he walked off. Sakura followed a little upset but she understood. Boy's will be boys.

Time passed in the tower that sat within The Forest of Death relatively quickly. Teams came in and at the five day marker all the teams who were going to make it, had already made it. Some teams didn't make it till the last moment though, and others made it a day before. It was then that they had to gather on the floor of the towers. "congratulations to the Genin who made it this far. " Hiruzen spoke. "You have done well so far, but I think it's time I explained the real reasons these exams are formed." He started. He explained to them that the Chuunin exams were a substitute for war. From the occasional questions he answered to the time he finished his speech it was time for them to start another round. He was about to go into explanation of what the rounds would contain but a sickly looking ninja appeared. "Excuse me Lord Hokage. But allow me to explain the round, as it is my duty to do so." he said politely. Hiruzen confirmed and nodded as the jounin coughed to clear his throat before beginning.

"Be it from the simplicity of the exams or the skill of the entrants there are too many of you to continue onto the next round, so in order to decide who goes to the final's we will have a preliminary round." he said between coughs. This elicited groans from many of the genin in the stands as one asked why they had to fight when they just came out of that god forsaken forest. The shinobi explained to them the reason and began to direct their name to the boards above. He asked if anyone would like to concede and leave the exam and only the one's who made it there that day and Kabuto rose their hands and were escorted off. "Alright it's time for the first match..." he said as the names rolled.

"Will the Two genin's enter the floor." he said as Sasuke and Yoroi made their way down. Sasuke entered a stance before Yoroi chuckled at him. "Prepare to lose kid.." he said as the prompter rose his hand. "Ready...Begin!" he said as he slashed through the air signaling the start of the match. Sasuke ran at the man as he removed shuriken from his pouch. He thew the shuriken as Yoroi took out a kunai and slashed at them knocking them away. While he was doing that Sasuke was in the middle of seals already preparing for his fire style as he launched it towards Yoroi. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he said as small fire ball projectiles came at the genin. He dodged in between them before closing the distance between him and Sasuke as Sasuke launched a punch which the man grabbed. Suddenly, Sasuke felt weaker. "What...what is this?" he said as he realized the man was draining his chakra. He launched a kick to the man's knee forcing him to cave in and let go as he launched another kick towards the falling man, ducking down and slamming him in the chin. "Time to end this." Sasuke said as he disappeared behind the man. He launched an elbow into the man who blocked it as he kicked him in the gut. He launched a series of blows increasing the mans decent before he ended with a massive heal to the man's stomach as they collided with the ground. Sasuke used the kick and propelled himself off the man as the effects of the Shadow of the Dancing Leaf caught up with him. He fell to a knee as he panted. "Winner, Sasuke!" the prompter said before coughing.

The board flashed again as another series of names went by. They finally stopped on two names as Sakura looked at the board a little bit worried. Sakura and Oboro made their way down to the floor. "Hmph, this'll be a piece of cake." The ame genin said as the match was started. Sakura started off running at the man making clones. The genin threw shuriken which caused the clone to dispell as Sakura had changed places with them while running, confusing the order they were in. She launched a kick at the genin as he ducked under and jumped back. Obviously he wasn't a close range fighter. He suddenly sunk underground as Sakura blinked. "What.." she said before she felt a presence behind her and jumped. Luckily she dodge the slash that would have taken out her tendon and caused he to collapse. The kunai was thrown as she threw her own causing it to bounce back. Suddenly, large amounts of Oboro appeared from the ground. She launched a kunai at one of them only for it to phase through. "These are only illusions, what do you plan to do with-" she was interrupted as one slashed her. 'What was that...' she thought. She could have sworn they were illusions. There was no way they could have hit her.

She was forced to dodge back and forth as her stamina was nearing it's end. She decided a little genjutsu would be fair as well. She formed a few hand seals casting a small genjutsu around her as she vanished in a flurry of sakura petals. Oboro appeared from the ground but was unable to find her. It was at this moment Sakura saw what the man was doing and formed a few hand seals. Once she finished, a flurry of Sakura petals appeared from below the man. He didn't know what it was but he had an idea. Suddenly, he was taken by surprise as he saw a massive monster closing in on him. It was pale with yellow eyes and a body like a snake. It extended and tried to close on him with it's jaw's open. Oboro was terrified of snakes. He promptly passed out from the influx of the horror of being eaten alive by one. Sakura canceled her petal genjutsu as the clones disappeared. "Winner, Sakura" the prompter once again concluded.

The board opened up once again as two more names flashed on the screen. "Heh, I have to fight one of those weakling Kunoichi's..." Temari thought as she made her way down the stairs. "This'll be too easy" she said as she faced a girl with buns in her hair. "Ready...Begin." The prompter explained. The girl removed some shuriken and kunai from her pouches as the girl blocked them with her wind fan as she opened it up to one moon. "Hah...You'll never touch me with those tools weakling!" she exclaimed. "When three moon's are revealed, it'll be the end of you." she said. Not as a boast but as a declaration of skill. Tenten figured it was a taunt and jumped into the air as smoke appeared around her. She began summoning ninja tools at an alarming rate as she manipulated them with ninja wire causing them to rain down on the Suna Kunoichi. But none reached her as the weapons fell all around her. As Tenten fell to the ground seemingly exaughsted she smirked as she lifted her hand and the tools all went flying back at Temari who seemed unimpressed. She sent a wave of wind towards the strings causing them to fall and falter. Tenten was shocked. Temari had her fan extended as she hurled a large cyclone of wind at Tenten. Tenten was launched into the air as she was slashed multiple times by the wind. Lee looked on in horror as Tenten fell. Suddenly a blur appeared out the corner of their eye's as he caught Tenten. Lee stood looking at Temari. He had realized where she was going to land, and Temari was going to let her land brutally on her fan. "That...was most unyouthful!" he declared as he looked angry. For those who knew Lee, it was rare to see anger on his face. Tenten looked up at him. "Thanks Lee." she replied before he helped her get back up the stairs. "Whatever...Weakling." Temari said as she was declared the winner. She walked back up the stairs as the board appeared again.

This time it landed on Shino and some boy from the Sound Village. They remembered him in the room and Shino wished to see the boy's ability. "Begin" the prompter said as they stood still. "I'm gonna end this with one move!" Zaku declared as he launched his Decapitating Air Wave at Shino. Shino seemed to disappear behind Zaku as he got in close range. "Give up, you cannot win this battle." he said calmy. The voice detained no hint of sarcasm or joke. He was dead serious. "Tch, You can't beat me!" he said as he launched another wave. This Shino dissolved into bugs and began to corral around the boy. He was surrounded. Suddenly he pointed his hands at opposite ends. "Extreme Decapitating Air Wave!" He said. But when he tried to get the wave up his arm's and out his body, something was blocking it's flow. Suddenly, his arms exploded as he fell to the ground screaming in pain. "What...what just happened!?" Sakura asked. Kakashi decided to enlighten her. "When Shino was in close proximity he let some of his bugs get on the genin. He used his bugs to clog the boy's air holes in his hands. When he tried to use it, his arms...went pop." He said lightly. Sakura nodded in horror and fear of this genin. Shino was not to be toyed with. Shino made his way up to the stairs. 'I gave him a chance...He should have taken it.' he thought as the names rolled on.

In the middle of the floor stood two Genins. One with a bundle on his back and the other taking an interesting stance. "Give up, you can't win." Misumi said. "Tch, Like i'd lose to some Konoha weakling...You won't even qualify as a warm up." he said as he took the pouch off his back. He began to unwrap it as the instructor said no but Misumi appeared before him with blinding speed. Impressive for a genin, not so much to the higher ranking ninja in the room. Kankuro was caught unaware as Misumi began to wrap around him and constrict like a snake. "Give up, or I'll break your neck kid." He said as Kankuro smirked. "Like I said, I ain't givin u-" he said as his neck was broken. It hung limply before it suddenly turned around, parts of it breaking off. "Now it's your turn." he said as Kankurou's body shifted into that of a puppet. "I'll break everything but your neck." He said as the puppet began to constrict Misumi and began breaking bones, joints, and everything...but his neck. Misumi fell to the ground dead within seconds. "Winner...Kankurou" he said a bit shocked. The brutality behind the attack was something no genin should have in their body to do. Many of the genin's became sick looking at the simplicity of crushing someone so easily. Kankurou smirked as he made his way back up the stairs.

"Alright, for the next match." He began as the board began to flash. Another Genin looking like the previous genin that fought Sakura appeared. He looked at Kin with anything but interest. When the match began, he sunk under ground. He employed the same technique his teammate did wearing her down and causing her to get confused. She promptly forfeited realizing that this man was outside of her range. She couldn't utilize her senbon because he was underground, and her senbon wouldn't reach. Sure she could lay them all over the place, but he could just go under and avoid the sound. Mubi rose from the ground and went back up stairs next to his sensei.

The board rolled to show two unsuspecting names. Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka made their way down stairs. "Begin!" The prompter said as Kiba looked at Naruto. "Wahoo, this'll be easy! Prepare yourself Naruto...'cause I'm gonna finish this in one punch!" he said as he charged at Naruto. Naruto looked uninterested and caught the punch before forming a half hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu" he said as another clone appeared and launched a powerful punch underneath Kiba's jaw. The punch sent Kiba back as he fell with a thud. Kiba got up looking at Naruto with shocked eyes. "The hell?" Kiba said. Suddenly everyone was quiet. 'That was brutal.' Kakashi thought as he looked at Naruto. "I don't like being underestimated." He said as his Kage Bunshin walked towards Naruto. Using chakra was hurting like hell and the curse seal was siphoning chakra like crazy, but luckily Naruto had plenty to spare. He could use the Kage Bunshin a few times but he was going to have to stick to Taijutsu if he wanted to win here. Plus he didn't want to show off any tricks. Naruto's clone walked towards Kiba as Kiba's dog jumped infront of Kiba and barked. Kiba reached inside his pocket as he pulled something out. "Akamaru!" he said as the dog turned and opened up swallowing the food pill. Kiba took one out for himself. "Alright then...Let's get serious!" Kiba said as Akamaru then hopped on his back. "Man-Beast Clone!" he said as Akamaru turned into a clone of him. They then began running at Naruto and his clone. One began spinning as did the other. Both Naruto clones avoided it as they continued spinning around. They came to a stop as Naruto disappeared quickly with a blur of speed and rose up his hand into a fist. Kiba side stepped it and launched a kick which Naruto blocked with his other hand. Kiba brought his other leg up at an Aim at Naruto's face while Naruto brought his arm back to block it. This caused Kiba to be upside down as he used his hands as a brace and completed a hand stand. He began spinning as his legs became a blur and Naruto was forced to hop back as Kiba completed his spins. He then pushed off the ground landing on his hands as Naruto just collected himself.

Meanwhile, Kiba Clone and Naruto Clone were fighting. It was a pretty much feral attack from the Kiba clone vs a well organized taijutsu attack from Naruto. Akamaru would slash with his human hand/claw and would cause Naruto to deflect at the forearm. They exchanged punches and kicks with Naruto landing a good Kick to the Akamaru/Kiba clone and sent him back into a wall with the force of the kick. This knocked the air out the little pup causing him to transform back into Akamaru. It was spent as it was. Naruto looked at Kiba and removed a few shuriken from his pouch. 'I should be careful with this.' he said as he threw the shuriken. He threw them at Kiba as the dog user heard the whistling of Shuriken. He dodged out the way expecting them to fly into the wall but was suprised when they twisted up and began to rain down from above him. It was then that the Naruto clone formed hand seals. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" it said as a rain of shuriken was above Kiba. Kiba was scraped and pelted with many shurikens but the amount was turned into a twenty instead of the usual thousands. Naruto's chakra control was off the hinges as he couldn't mold it right. Kiba stood there shaking with multiple cuts on his body. "Damn you..." he said as he tried to move but couldn't. He could barely stand and the prompter realized this. The subtle muscle twitch and the aches from moving were obvious on the Inuzuka's face. "Winner, - " "Don't you dare stop this match!" Kiba yelled out. "Kiba with all due respect you're finished here...There's nothing more you can do. If you continue then I'll have to knock you out." Naruto said in a commanding tone. "Bring it then!" Kiba said as he unwillingly took a stance. His body hurt but he'd be damned if he finished this fight conscious. Naruto nodded and rushed forward Kiba. Kiba lifted his arm to block the oncoming strike as the Naruto clone stood back. 'Damn it...I can't keep up like this. I've got to do some damage!' he though as he launched a punch. The punch missed and Kiba began spinning. He spun into Naruto and point blank range as Naruto exploded into Smoke. 'A seal-less replacement!' The prompter thought. That was advanced. Naruto stood in his clones spot as he got the memories from that attack. 'That would have taken me out the fight.' He realized. Kiba stopped spinning as he realized Naruto wasn't there. Suddenly, Naruto was before him launching a powerful knee into Kiba's chin. Kiba was launched off his feet as Naruto pushed off the ground at immense speeds shocking everyone there. He appeared over Kiba later, mid flip, and brought a leg down on Kiba. The combo was effective as the light left Kiba's eyes as he hit and he was taken out on a stretcher, completely unconcious. "Winner...Naruto." he said.

Naruto made his way back up with his hands in his pockets. "Good fight Kiba." He said out loud as Kiba was finally carted off. "Next match, Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga." Hinata looked at Neji as Kiba's words came to her. 'If you have to fight Neji or that Sand Ninja, forfiet immediately.' she remembered. She made her way down the stairs as she took her place infront of Neji. "Hinata-sama, You know you cannot win...Why do you task yourself with this impossible burden." he asked in a way of superiority. Hinata looked at him. "I-...I want to change myself. To prove that, that I can be a strong ninja." she stuttered. Neji activated his Byakugan as he looked at her. "These eyes of mine can see your weaknesses Hinata. The way you hold your hand up to your lips and your arm below that, trying to form a barrier from keeping me out of your mind, the way your stance portrays weakness and your unwillingness to fight. The way your eyes glance to the ground then back to yourself. Trying to steel out the doubt that you can actually put up a good fight and maybe beat me. It's all revealed to me. The truth of the fact is, it is your fate to lose here, Hinata-sama." Neji finished. Suddenly a voice came out from the balcony. "Shut the hell up will you. You sound like an idiot." the voice said as Neji glared at Naruto. "Who are you to tell someone what they can and can't be...you have no right to judge anyone, you Branch Family weakling." Naruto hit a chord. Neji became infuriated. He glared at Naruto but steeled his emotions as Hinata looked at Naruto shocked but then realized something. Naruto was right. Who the hell was Neji to tell her that she couldn't be a good ninja. Suddenly she began performing a series of hand seals as she activated her Byakugan. "Let's begin...Brother" she said as she took a stance.

She began running at Neji and launched a series of strike which Neji countered. He began launching strikes as they continued on exchanging blows and deflecting strikes. Chakra was coming off of them in small bursts and waves as they continued to battle. Neji launched a palm strike at Hinata's chest which she diverted and launched one at Neji's stomach. He hit her arm with a strike of his fingers and then launched another palm strike aimed at her stomach. Hinata took a chance and leaned into it hitting him with her own. She then coughed up blood and fell to her knee's as Neji grabbed her arm and held it up, showing holes on the arm. "I disabled your Gentle Fist from the beginning. You never stood a chance." he said as he let go of her arm. He began to walk away. "Prompter, it's over. She can no longer fight." Hinata stood up and looked at Neji. "You're wrong brother." she said before looking at Neji. Neji began to become upset. "Just stand down Hinata. You stand no chance against me. It is your fate to lose this match. You are not a competent shinobi and you have no chance against anyone of my calliber. You should just understand this and give up." he ordered. Hinata shook her head no. "I won't give up...Because it's...My ninja way!" she exclaimed. "How could you know anything about being a Ninja. A main branch ninja who despises their own family!" Neji let his emotions get to him. Hinata looked at Neji with sadness in her eyes. "I don't hate you Neji...if anything. I pity you." Neji glared at Hinata before moving at a burst of speed. Suddenly he was surrounded by all the jounin's as they restrained him and Naruto appeared in front of him before Kunai could with a claw of some sorts around his hand. The other jounin turned and looked in shock before Hinata opened her eyes and saw Kurenai infront of her. She looked around and saw Neji a hair's inch away from an Iron Claw that belonged to one Naruto Uzumaki.

"If you had taken that attack, your life would have been forfeit." he said calmly releasing a mild amount of his killing intent. They looked at him confused. Since when did the dead last of the academy make threats. His entire character was off and it was unnerving. He had moved slightly slower than the jounin's when he disappeared. The genin weren't even able of tracking his movements. It was obvious he was holding back. On the outside Naruto was ok. On the inside his chakra was burning. Using that damn shushin variant hurt like hell with the curse mark. He had kept up a tough guy routine to not look weak but he was regreting it.

"Winner...Neji Hyuuga." he said as Hinata fell to the ground exhausted. Luckily Neji didn't hit her chest but that stomach blow was strong. It hurt like hell and she'd still need medical treatment. Naruto helped Hinata up and she was escorted off by a Medical ninja. He turned and looked at Neji. "Pray we don't meet at the finals. I won't hold back against someone like you." he said as he walked up the stairs.

The final match was now upon them as it was time for Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee to face off. Rock lee jumped off the railing landing down right after Gaara used his Sand Shushin to appear on the grounds. It was time for some blood. And Gaara was going to get it in buckets if there was anything he had to say about it. "Let us have a Most Youthful and enjoyable match!" he said as Gaara looked stoic as ever. Suddenly the match began and Lee rushed off. He launched a punch at Gaara as a wave of sand appeared and blocked it. Lee looked shocked as he launched a kick and the sand repeated the action. He tried multiple combo's even tried a few unconventional methods but the sand would just stop his attack. Gaara looked at him and sent the sand in his direction. Lee jumped back and avoided the sand as he tried once more. This time he was hit by a wave of sand which slammed him up against a wall.

He was able to regroup as the sand came once again and he appeared a small distance away from the original sands strike. He looked up to Gai who looked at him shouting down to him. "Lee! Take 'em off!" he said as Lee nodded. "Right!" he said as he disappeared to the symbol in the arena. He stood atop the hands that made the ram sign. He sat down removing the weights as he held them up at arms length. "Ah..That is much better. Now I will be able to move much faster!" he said as he let the weights go. The sudden impact of such a force hitting the earth caused the ground to crumble beneath it creating two craters. A weight dropped from that height had to weigh more than Lee himself. Lee took off literally vanishing to many of the genin there. Hell Kakashi had to activate his sharingan just to keep up and see him. He began launching attacks as Gaara began to panic for the first time in years. He couldn't see him, but his sand could barely "Boom" couldn't keep up any more. He took a blow to the head. The blow left a small cut as Temari and Kankuro were in shock. Gaara was bleeding, and that wasn't a good thing. Lee appeared below Gaara and launched a kick. Gaara went into the air but wasn't floating. He was too heavy with that gourd. Lee launched a series of kicks into Gaara's gut and got him up high enough. He then wrapped Gaara in his bandages as they began their decent down. He slammed Gaara into the ground and leapt away huffing and puffing. Gaara's body cracked away revealing a hollow sand shell. The shell disolved into sand as Gaara appeared elsewhere with an insane grin on his face. "Yes...Make me feel alive!" he said as sand rushed Lee's vulnerable form. Waves after wave of sand landed into Lee as he was smashed against the wall. Lee rose once again as he took his stance. Another wave of sand got to him and he dodged it with incredibly new vigor. Suddenly he started moving faster and dodging. Then Lee got distance as he crossed his arms.

"Gate of Pain...open!" he said as he opened the first gate. "Gate of Healing...Open!" he continued. He went up to the fourth gate as his skin turned red. He shot off at amazing speeds and launched Gaara into the air. The shockwave from the kick shattered the arena. He appeared behind Gaara launching him into the corner of the arena but appeared before him knocking him the opposite way before bouncing him at fast speeds. He then appeared above Gaara as he opened the fifth gate and launched a powerful punch into gaara's stomach. His bandages wrapped around Gaara as he pulled him in for an amazing punch/kick duo causing him to hit the ground and form a crater. Lee rolled onto the ground barely able to move. Gaara began to lift his arm as sand inched towards Gaara. Seeing that Lee couldn't move Naruto broke Gai out of his shock and amaze for his student. "You should help him...Call the match!" Naruto said alarmed. Gai disappeared and disrupted the sand as he took a defensive position over Lee. "Lee is Disqualified. Winner Sabaku no Gaara." he said as Gai picked Lee up. "Why did you stop the match Gai sensei!?" Lee asked. Inside he knew he lost but he was going to go out a ninja. "Because...I didn't want to lose a precious student." He said as he looked at Lee with tears in his eyes. "I am so proud of you Lee. So very proud." he said as he hugged Lee.

"Would all the winners of the previous matches please make your way down." He said as they appeared one by one. He told them the date for the next match would be in one month. They had the time to train and develope strategy against their opponents and they all got the idea. He held up a box with numbers and had them each draw one. After all was said they drew up the brackets for the tournament.

Round 1: Neji Hyuuga vs Naruto Uzumaki

Round 2: Sakura Haruno vs Sabaku no Temari

Round 3: Sabaku no Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha

Round 4: Shino Aburame vs Sabaku no Kankuro

Round 5: Mabi of Ame vs Dosu of Sound

With the brackets set up and cleared they each left the tower.


	12. Chuunin Exams(Part Two)

Neji Hyuuga was facing Naruto Uzumaki first round, and boy was he not happy. He had his arm's crossed against his body as he looked at the blond enigma and his stance. The blond had finally revealed his new outfit to the public and even included the sleeveless coat with the outfit. His headband's cloth flowed in the wind as did his coat as he looked at the Hyuuga right back.

"Give up," Neji began. "There's no way you'll ever beat me. Your fate is to lose here and now." Neji finished as he closed his eyes smugly.

"Don't underestimate your opponents Hyuuga." Naruto said as he finally removed his hands from his pockets. He was holding something in his hand as he pointed at the Hyuuga. "Or you might end up dead one of these days." he finished.

People were shocked that the young man had threatened a Konoha Ninja. A Hyuuga none the less. Neji kept his emotions under control as he looked at the Genin openining his eyes once more.

"Prompter." Neji commanded. "Start the match." He said as he slipped into his Jyuken Stance.

"First Match: Neji Hyuuga vs Naruto Uzumaki...Begin!" he said as he waved his hand and jumped back. Naruto launched his other hand forward as he released a large gust of wind from his palms. Neji, caught off guard by the long distance attack, braced himself for impact as he was lifted from the ground. Naruto utilized his speed and ran to the other side of the arena as he began to throw what was in his hand. He threw the sphere at Neji from the distance and Neji struck it with a Kunai. It exploded in the air releasing a purple cloud that Naruto then used another wind technique and blew the gas over to Neji.

'Poison!' Neji thought as he backed away from the cloud and moved himself away from it. Naruto, as if reading the crowds mind, answered the question everyone was dying to know. "It's not fatal. Just a harmless knock out gas." he said as a bird flew into the gas cloud and fell to the ground out cold. Naruto formed a hand seal and three Kage Bunshin popped into existence.

"Scatter." he said and the bunshin took off to different locations.

"You should know better than to try and use those Clones against me. I can see them and Know where they are. It'll be childs play to take them - " he was interrupted as he moved his head to the side avoiding a Kunai. The clone that threw it called out.

"Shut up will you..." it said while watching Neji. "We're not here to fight. Just simply observe." the clone finished. This was a psychological ploy. Not only would he not be able to believe the clone, because at the time it was an enemy, simply ignoring it could prove hazardous to his health. They were good distractions as the real Naruto was already upon him in a strange stance. His left leg was forward as his right leg was bracing him as he slid in front of Neji. His left and right hands were in claw like shapes as if he would carve the flesh from Neji's body if he could. His left was slightly extended as his right slightly hung by his side ready to strike at an instance.

"Don't worry about them." Naruto said releasing a barrage of strikes. "You have your own problems to deal with." He finished as him and Neji began to exchange blows. Neji launched a straight jab with his fingers towards Naruto's chest as Naruto used his claw like hands to grab the wrist and twisted. This cause Neji to go with the movements as Naruto stepped foward into the Hyuuga's guard delivering a devastatingly fast strike to the Hyuuga's gut. Neji doubled over as Naruto rose a leg dropping a powerful heal into the connection of Naruto's shoulders. This dropped Neji like a sack of potatoes as Naruto released his wrist and went for another strike.

Neji was being overwhelmed quickly. He had fought Lee before so he was used to fast Taijutsu but this was ridiculous. He was being beaten worse than when he challenged Gai to a match on the first day. The only difference between this and that was that Naruto wasn't holding back. Each blow struck accurately as Neji bounced off the ground after the heel and coughed up a little bit of spit and blood. When Naruto let go he saw another blur coming towards his face as he quickly rolled backwards and jumped to his feet. He was breathing a little bit heavily as he saw Naruto's leg extended.

"I call it the Kitsune Ken: Stage One." Naruto replied. "It's a taijutsu style that utilizes grappling moves and flexibility to strike at the opponent and cause them to end up in vulnerable situations." He finished explaining. Naruto stance shifted a little lightly as the chakra coming off him could be felt. "This is stage two." he said as he swiped with his hands and a gust of wind cut into Neji's body.

"Gah!" Neji said as blood came from his chest. It was a shallow cut and not too deep but from that distance it was an amazing feat by the Uzumaki. 'I can't afford to be hit by that at close range. It'd kill me!' Neji thought to himself. Neji decided to get serious and stopped talking. No mind games were going to get him out of this situation. He knew when he had a challenge before him.

Naruto rushed foward as Neji dodged each strike. Naruto had to sacrifice his speed for chakra control and the Stage two of the style was easy to avoid, but that didn't make it a weakness. The easiness to avoid it was only a bonus as it allowed Naruto to set up different combinations. As Neji dodged a strike by Naruto, Naruto suddenly ducked down and swept his legs and continued spinning while jumping into the air and began to fall upon Neji with his elbow ready to plunge into the young boy's gut. Neji rolled on the ground at the last minute hopping up as Naruto's elbow hit into the ground, and caused a small crater as Naruto kick jumped back up. Naruto dusted himself off as he closed his eyes. He then smirked.

"I got everything I need here." Naruto said confusing Neji.

"What do you mean Uzumaki?" Neji asked rudely.

Naruto pointed at the clones that were supposed to be there. Neji flared his Byakugan after noticing they were gone but Naruto interupted him. "Don't worry, I dispelled them already." He explained. Neji wasn't only a genius in name for his skills but he also had a sharp mind. But even he was confused by what the blond enigma was talking about.

"What are you going on about?" Neji asked once more.

"I now know everything I need to about your fighting style." Naruto replied as he shifted his stance into a more relaxed stance. He began to bounce on his toes as he had his right hand at his waist fingers slightly gripped but still relaxed as his left arm was infront of his fast in the same fashion. Naruto's feet hit the ground and he was off leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Neji tried to dodge but was completely left in the dust by Naruto's speed. Each time Neji tried to dodge Naruto made him pay for it with a haymaker to his intended dodging locations. Since Neji was a Hyuuga, close range was his forte. Not saying that all Hyuuga's don't have any long range skills, it was a well known fact that many of the genin Hyuuga's didn't. Neji may be a genius but he specialized in close range. Getting beat at his speciality at this point was game over.

Blow after blow rained upon Neji as he was helpless to react to them. Naruto lifted his knee slamming it into Neji as he jumped up bringing his other knee into Neji's chin jerking Neji upright instantly. Neji's eye's went white before Naruto spun quickly in the air and delivered a powerful kick to Neji's jaw sending him spinning and flying towards the ground. As Naruto landed his placed both his hands down then after observing Neji for a moment placed his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Neji was out cold.

The prompter went to check on Neji and checked for a pulse. It was there, but faintly. 'Naruto almost beat the kid to death. Those blows of his were well placed. If Naruto wanted to go for vitals he could have in an instant. That boy is dangerous.' Genma thought to himself. "Winner. Naruto Uzumaki."

A roar of applauds erupted in the stadium as Naruto walked off the stage. "Too easy." Naruto replied while they hoisted Neji away on the cart. "Next Match, Sakura Haruno vs Sabaku no Temari. Please make your way towards the stadium." Genma announced as Sakura made her way down. As Naruto walked past Sakura looked at him. Naruto faintly smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just don't let her use that fan and you'll be fine." Naruto said. "Go get her." Naruto finished as Sakura smiled and walked out.

Temari looked at the girl infront of her and laughed. "This weak little girl is going to be my opponent. She looks like a starved kitten. You honestly don't think you're a match for me do you?" Temari taunted. Sakura's brow flinched for a moment as she snarled.

"What did you say you overgrown COW!" Sakura screamed out. Temari winced from the insult then became enraged.

"That's it you pink harpie...you're dead!" she said as she reached for her fan. Sakura started hand seals as Genma quickly started the match and moved the hell back. As Temari began to swing her fan Sakura had already finished her hand signs.

Once the fan was swung the gust from the wind obliterated the spot where Sakura was. Sakura's body laid on the ground as Temari looked over it. "Tch. Too easy!" she said as she felt a tickle in the back of her mind. 'Genjutsu' she said as she bit down hard onto her cheek to cause enough pain to dispel the genjutsu without anyone knowing.

Outside the Genjutsu everyone was wondering why Temari was standing still and Sakura was reaching for a Kunai. She checked her opponents eyes and saw them faintly following her. 'She already dispelled the genjutsu...' Sakura thought in her mind. Temari was a well trained shinobi but Sakura was well trained on genjutsu over the month. She took to genjutsu like a fish took to water. Sakura removed the kunai from her pouched and threw it at Temari. The kunai had a paper tag attached to it. It wasn't a timed one but one that could go off by hand seal. She then formed a few hand seals as the Kunai multiplied.

Temari stopped playing coy and swung her fan for real this time. By the time the gust of wind had hit the arena Sakura had switched positions and was hiding behind trees. Temari was not impressed. The Kunai was blown away as it landed near the prompter who immediatly moved away from said kunai. "Nice try you bitch but I have this match in the bag." Temari bragged. She was still sore about that cow comment.

Sakura removed a pouch and tied it to a Kunai. She'd have to throw this pretty hard to get it to rise above the right spot. But first she had to make Temari move. Sakura formed a few handsigns as an illusionary version of her came into existance. The illusionary version of her made it's way out from behind the tree and began to run at Temari.

Temari looked at the girl's feet and saw that it wasn't disturbing the earth. Either she was very skilled at the art of covering one's tracks, or it was an illusion. Knowing she was dealing with a genjutsu user, she chose the Genjutsu. She didn't make a move as the clone removed a kunai and threw it at Temari. Temari smirked as the kunai passed her cheek before a thin line of blood came from her cheek and she felt a twinge of pain. That shouldnt' have been possible.

Sakura was watching from the tree and was synching up the clones movements with her own and was using ninja tools to do it. She needed to position Temari near that Kunai. And she was going to get it done. Sakura threw shuriken and kunai and was even manipulating them with wires to get the trajectory down and everything. Temari, getting fed up with it all, released a powerful gale disrupting the illusionary clones appearance before it finally dispelled.

"Come out you cowardly bitch!" Temari screamed in rage. She was being toyed with by some adolescent shinobi wanna be and she was not taking it lightly. Sakura jumped down from the tree and began running through a few hand signs. When nothing happened Temari thought that maybe she was bluffing but then Sakura pointed to the sky. She was breathing heavily and was about to fall over. Out of the sky, a giant fireball was descending upon the arena. Temari was scared shitless. "That shouldn't even be possible!" She said out loud as she looked back at Sakura. Everyone looked into the sky and was confused at what Temari was seeing. Temari had forgotten all rationality until she felt that tingle in the back of her mind again.

'Another genjutsu." She said as she released it again. Sakura quit her acting and removed a Kunai with a pouch on it. Temari swung her blade foward and launched the wind at the kunai. The pouch bursted open and thousands of little bits of paper with writing on them fell as Sakura began to hold her hands together. Temari began to swing her fan once more, but realized her location. She looked to her side and sure enough, there was the kunai with the paper tag. It was also surrounded by smaller pieces of paper. Temari was about to swing when Sakura called out to her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said as she nodded towards the paper. Temari got a closer look at it and was pissed.

"You whore..." Temari said through clenched teeth. On each peice of paper was a modified explosive tag seal. These seals were dangerous in their own right because one could cause massive damage. The thousands this girl had in the arena, would blow them all sky high. "You wouldn't!" she said as he prepared to swing. Sakura's chakra flared as she showed that she was willing to go through. "Surrender, or we both end here." She said. Temari wasn't liking this one bit. She lowered her fan and looked at Sakura with rage in her eyes. "I Surrender." She finished as Genma announced Sakura the winner. Sakura detonated the tags and small confetti fell out the tags. "Gotcha." She said as she laughed all the way back to the stands. If Temari was angry before, she was absolutely livid. Temari slammed her fan on the ground causing a huge crater as she stomed off the stage.

"Next Match: Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara!" Genma said. "Please make your way down to the arena floors at this moment." He announced as Gaara walked down the halls. Sakura looked at the arena from the stands as she wondered where Sasuke was. Gaara only wanted to spill some Uchiha blood as he deemed the young man a challenge. Gaara stood in the arena before he pulsed his chakra and felt something.

"Uchiha...Come out here. Face me." He said while looking at the top of the arena at the very top of the crowd.

A young man was standing on top of the arena looking down at Gaara.

"Sure." he yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear as they looked up at him. "I guess we could play for a little while." He said before he appeared in the middle of the arena with a whirlwind of leaves appearing around him.

As they fell to the ground they revealed Sasuke Uchiha. His sharingan already blazing alive with three tomoe in their eyes.

"Just keep in mind I like to play rough." He said as he placed one hand infront of him as his arm bent at an angle. The other arm was placed behind his back as he was standing straight up. "Let's see what you've got. Sabaku no Gaara"

He finished as Gaara smiled an eerie smile. "This...will be fun Uchiha!"


	13. Chuunin Exams(Part Two): The Invasion

"Third Match: Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara...Begin!" the prompter stated as he slashed downwards between the two competitors then got the hell out of dodge. There was no way he was going to get caught in this. They may be genin but one was the Shukaku's container and the other an Uchiha, shit was about to hit the fan. Sasuke leapt from his position as he charged at the young genin before him. He launched a punch that the sand effortlessly caught but then did something unexpected. He twisted on his heel and then simply vanished for a brief moment.

"Un-unbelievable! You taught him Lee's speed in a Month!?" Gai looked at Kakashi with a mixture of astonishment and anger.

"He needed the speed to get past Gaara's sand shield. I've taught him a few other things since he awakened his stage three sharingan. Let's just say this match will be quick." Kakashi said. Kakashi doesn't gloat, he states facts. The fact that he was saying Sasuke was going to take down the sand using ninja quickly was showing a lot of confidence in his student.

Sasuke reappeared behind Gaara but was already in the air launching an overhead kick at the back of Gaara's neck which was blocked once again. Gaara looked behind him but nothing was there. Sasuke then appeared in front of Gaara within his range as Sand appeared all around Gaara in an attempt to catch Sasuke. Sasuke slammed his hand down and then disappeared once again.

Once he landed he formed a simple hand seal and an explosion rang through the air enveloping Gaara.

"Gaara!" Temari called out but was happy to see that the sand armor Gaara had was protecting him to it's fullest abilities. Sasuke began a few hand seals as he launched fireballs. There was a shining glint to the fireballs as they launched at their target and began to attack Gaara.

Gaara's sand rose up to protect him from the fireballs but then something happened. From within the fireballs, Shuriken began to curve and make their way around Gaara. In a quick show of speed and agility, Sasuke manipulated the shuriken around Gaara and captured him. The sand flowed from his gourd in an attempt to cut the strings quickly but Sasuke had a few of the strings in his mouth and was already forming hand seals.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" He said as fire ran across the strings. The sand exploded once again as the heat from the fire was causing the sand to undergo much strain. While it was commonly known that Sand plus Hight Heat could make glass this wasn't the case.

Gaara became angry quickly. He was being man handled. Gaara was never man handled. He started moving his arm's controlling the sand manually as it went around the arena. Sasuke continued to duck and dodge as he moved. Now was the time to get into range. The opponent was angry and wasn't thinking straight. Sasuke ran forward at Gaara and launched another punch which was blocked but this time he did something unexpected. His sharingan glowed for a moment and for that brief moment Gaara caught a glimpse of the Sharingan.

"Genjutsu!" Sasuke said as he caught the young Jinchuriki under the genjutsu. As Gaara's arms slumped down and the sand fell Sasuke thought about approaching the boy and finishing him off until Gaara's fingers twitched and a howl erupted from Gaara. Sand suddenly exploded every where knocking Sasuke back into the wall. "He broke my genjutsu!?" Sasuke stated.

"Your measly genjutsu won't work on me Uchiha. Now...Let me feel alive!" Gaara screamed as sand began to ravage the Uchiha's location. Nothing around him was safe. Tree's, ground, bushes, the wall. Everything was getting demolished by the sand in an attempt to devour the Uchiha. Sasuke ran up the wall back flipping as the sand tried to catch him once more. He quickly ran through hand seals and held his hand downward.

"Chidori!" he screamed out as he ran down from the wall as the wall cracked with his steps. He was finally upon Gaara until a wall of sand blocked his attempt but it was futile. The chidori struck true hitting Gaara in his shoulder.

"What is this..." Gaara stated. He looked dumbfounded at his shoulder. "Why is it so warm..." He stated half delusional half insane. "It's...It's blood! IT'S MY BLOOD!" He screamed the last part as sand erupted from around him once more as feathers began to fall from the sky.

'Genjutsu' was the thought of a large amount of shinobi in the audience. Suddenly the arena erupted into chaos. "What's going on..." Sasuke said as a Shinobi ran at him. He twisted his body and removed a kunai sliding it into the Shinobi's throat effortlessly. "What is this!?" he yelled.

"We're under attack." Genma stated as he used his kunai to deflect weapons and threw a few back. He looked back to see the sand siblings helping their brother. "Sasuke, I'm giving you a mission. Follow those three and stop them at all costs." He said as he faced their Squad Leader. Sasuke nodded and leapt off.

'And here I thought the exams would be boring today' Naruto thought to himself. He channeled chakra to his hands as metal claws appeared around them. He ran at a group of enemy shinobi and began launching a flurry of strikes very quickly. "Die." he stated softly as he appeared on the other side of the group and they were sliced down quickly.

Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and protected him from a sneak attack as Naruto was just turning around. "I could have gotten him." Naruto stated.

"Not the point right now Naruto. We have an issue. The Sand and Sound have teamed up to attack our village. I need you and Saskura to follow Sasuke and assisst him with his mission. Take another shinobi with you if need be." He stated. He formed a few hand seals and summoned his ninja hound Pakkun. "Help them track Sasuke Pakkun." He simply stated and Pakkun nodded. Sakura looked over and found the nearest genin she could, unfortunately for Shikamaru, and then they headed off after Sasuke.

'This is bad' Shikamaru thought as they leapt through the trees. A group of Sound Shinobi were following them. And at this point they'd catch up. Shikamaru was going to suggest he was to stand back before Naruto fell back and began spinning and deeply inhaling. Once Sakura and Shikamaru was a safe distance away he released air from his mouth. "Wind Release: Vaccum Wave!" Naruto breath out with his attack and the Sound ninja's following them were sliced and defeated easily. Naruto landed on the ground after spinning and pushed off with great force causing him to catch up again once he got enough speed.

"Over here!" Pakkun shouted alerting them to the location they needed to follow. They made it just in time to see someone battling a puppet user. "Shikamaru, You stay here and help Shino out." Naruto commanded.

"What a drag..." Shikamaru stated as he leapt off the branch and headed towards Kankuro. He landed behind a tree as he formed his clan's technique. The shadow stretched out and slowly made it's way towards Kankurou. Suddenly as Kankurou was about to deliever the final blow to Shino, his body locked up. Shino took advantage and used his bugs to drain Kankurou's chakra just enough so the boy would pass out. Shikamaru released his shadow and stepped out from behind the tree.

"Much obliged Shikamaru." Shino stated before Shikamaru muttered "No problem." The two then leapt off to go assisst the other Shinobi.

Naruto and Sakura were leaping from tree to tree racing to find Sasuke. They weren't that far behind as they saw a battle unfold. It was Sasuke fighting the wind using kunoichi.

"Just Die already!" She stated as she released a wave of wind from her fan. Sasuke breathed out a fireball that ignited and made it's way back to Temari as she dodged the fireball. Suddenly she was being assaulted by various shuriken until she felt a presence behind her then suddenly her world went dark. "You're in no position to fight any ways." Sasuke said as he caught her and landed on the ground. He laid her down against a tree as he felt chakra signature's approaching.

"Naruto...Sakura. I see you've caught up." He stated. Naruto looked at the location that Gaara was heading.

"He's not too far off, but I want you guys to listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you." Naruto stated. "He's a Jinchuriki, like me. Kyuubi informed me that there's only one demon that had the power to control sand. That was the Shukaku. If we have to fight him I'll be the one to do it. I need you guys to provide cover for me if need be. But if he starts relying on his demon I want you guys to back off and remain hidden." Naruto said.

"Sasuke that's probably why your genjutsu didn't work." Sakura stated as he nodded back.

"Alright so we have a plan. Sasuke you provide cover with fire techniques and I'll launch my wind techniques. We can combined them to make a powerful combination. Sakura you try and slow himd own with Genjutsu. Once we have him subdued we'll capture him" Naruto finished as they both nodded and left off after Gaara.

Naruto landed infront of Gaara as he looked at him. A hint of disgust in his eyes. "So...we meet again Sabaku no Gaara." he said as Gaara landed on a branch as his route was cut off.

"Uzumaki...get out of my way." He said. Tension began to build between them until Naruto rose his hands.

"Not gonna happen you bastard." Gaara's smirk became hostile as he unleashed massive amounts of killing intent. Naruto, not one to be out done, allowed his features to turn feral for a moment while he unleashed his own.

"I'll enjoy killing you Uzumaki. Mother will enjoy your blood most of all." he stated as he launched sand at Naruto. Naruto brought his claw forward and unleashed a massive gust of wind that blew the sand backwards and sent Gaara flying. Gaara flipped in the air before landing on a tree as he began accessing the Shukaku's power.

"It's time to see who's existence is stronger Uzumaki!" He yelled out before his body was covered in sand, well...all except his legs. He raised his hand and sent a large level of sand at the young shinobi before him. Naruto began to move from tree to tree avoiding the sand until Gaara grew mouths all over his body and they began exhaling large amounts of wind and sand. The sand was so rough it began to erode away the tree's. Sakura and Sasuke were taking cover. They couldn't find an opening to assist Naruto. Not in this fight.

Naruto launched another strike of wind with his claws as the wind clashed against the body of the Shukaku host but he didn't budge. Naruto looked wide in shock as he realized he might be outgunned when it came to wind element. He unsummoned his claws and began forming hand seals. He took a deep breath and then exhaled several small blasts of wind chakra as they flowed over the battle field. With his wind technique clashing with Gaara's it created a small vaccume within the wind that drew both shinobi towards each other as Naruto cocked back his fist.

Naruto launched a strike at Gaara who swung his massive arm at the Uzumaki. Naruto diverted his punch and aimed at his arm. Using his physical strength and augmenting it with chakra he pushed himself off the punch and over Gaara as something strange happened. Gaara had a tail. And said tail caught the Uzumaki and swung him into a tree. How did Naruto miss that!?

Gaara began unloading wave after wave on Naruto. "Give it up Uzumaki. You have no reason to exist. You are just because you want to be. I'm going to take away your existence and prove my own!" He said as he relentlessly pounded Naruto with waves after waves of sand. Naruto released a scream of pain after the fourth wave and fell limp for a moment.

'Pathetic' Kyuubi said in his mind. 'Hey i'm trying my hardest here.' Naruto replied in his mind. He wasn't giving it one hundred percent but he knew now was the time to finish this fight. He formed a hand seal as he released the seals on his arms and legs. "Release" He said as he suddenly lifted off the ground from the weight being distributed back to him. He fell back down quickly and as soon as his feet touched the ground he was gone and behind Gaara.

He removed a Kunai as Gaara looked around him. "Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!" He said as he breathed chakra ontot he blade. He created an interesting sword as it was slightly curved in most area's. He launched at Gaara with such speed that when the Kunai entered the sand, it removed the arm of the beast. He then landed on the branch and quickly twisted and pushed off again in a ferociously quick motion as the branch gave way from the amount of pressure Naruto was exerting off of it. He continued doing this over and over again as he cut away pieces of the sand bit by bit until Gaara became infuriated.

"ENOUGH!" Gaara shouted as he released a massive wave of Sand from his body as it formed around him and Shukaku's body came into existence. "I'll Kill you ALL!" He said as he formed a seal. "Playing Possum Technique!" he finished off as he fell asleep and Shukaku came into existence.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahooooooooooo!" Shukaku screamed out. "I'm finally free! Time to wreck some shit!" He said as he began to move around and destroy everything in sight. Sakura and Sasuke were falling back and getting the hell out of dodge. This wasn't a fight they could handle any more. They looked around for Naruto when they saw him running up a tree. "What is that idiot doing!" Sasuke yelled out. Sakura had a look of worry on her face.

Naruto continued running until he reached the top. Shukaku noticed him and began to launch it's arm at the young boy. Naruto jumped onto the Arm and began running. Shukaku released a breath of wind as Naruto was hurled back into a tree until he actually went through it. He continued going through tree after tree until he hit a fourth tree and landed harshly to a rest. Many bones were broken and Naruto's eye's felt heavy.

'Ok...let's not do that again' Naruto though in imense pain. Kyuubi's chakra was already healing him and he slowly began to stand up as bones began to heal and his body began to heal up the cuts. "Alright...let's see how you like this you sandy bastard." He said as he formed a few hand seals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He yelled out accessing a small portion of Kyuubi's chakra. A giant frog appeared in the area around him.

"What's going on here!?" The frog screamed out. Naruto patted the toad on the head. "Sorry about this Gamabunta-sama. But I don't have much time to explain. I need you to get me close enough to that." He said pointing to Shukaku. Gamabunta looked at him incrediously. "Are you insane...that's a tailed beast!" He said looking at Naruto from his eye. Naruto uttered a simple response.

"I Know. But if I don't stop him here...he'll destroy the village. I can't let him do that." He said out loud. 'At least not yet.' he thought to himself. Don't get him wrong, he hated the village. But Sasuke, Sakura, Hiruzen, Kakashi, and Teuchi and Ayame didn't. Iruka would have wanted him to at least try and help the village in some way. Gamabunta removed his sword from his sheath and began to lunge at the giant beast. He cut through the beasts arm as it fell to the ground in a heap of sand.

"I'll get you for that!" Shukaku screamed out as he launched an Air Bullet at Gamabunta. Gamabunta jumped into the air and avoided the attack as Shukaku relocated them and launched three air bullets. Gamabunta replied with two water bullets not noticing the third. Naruto did how ever and cut through the last wind bullet with his wind technique. As Gamabunta landed Naruto told him to get close enough to where he could jump on the Tailed Beast.

"I don't have any claws or teeth to latch onto, so how are you going to get a safe jump." Gamabunta asked him. Naruto pulled out a tri-pronged Kunai. "You let me worry about that." He said as he threw the Kunai at Gaara. "I can only do this once...I haven't mastered it yet, so this is probably going to take a massive amount of my chakra." He said out loud. He formed a few hand seals and the Kunai multiplied into thousands. Naruto then teleported to the closest Kunai as he disappeared in a flash of yellow. He then launched a devistating left hook to Gaara's jaw. "Wake up!" he yelled out as Gaara's eyes shot open. Shukaku's body began to crumble.

"No...NOOOOOOO I just got here!" Shukaku said as it continued crumbling away. Gaara began to fall from the sky as Naruto did as well. Gaara landed painfully on the floor as Naruto smashed through branch after branch slowing his desceant in a more painful way. He hit the ground softer but man was he sore. He was damn near out of chakra from using the Hiraishin at an unmastered level. He had been working on it for a few months and had got the basics down, but he could only do it once.

Naruto began to try and push himself up only to collasp to the ground. Gaara looked at him. "Why...why do you continue to fight for these people. What makes you so strong." Gaara stated as he looked with fear upon the monster that was Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto looked at him and then a smile came to his face. "I don't fight for these people." He stated. "I fight only for those I wish to protect. I fight for my team-mates, sensei, and loved ones. Don't get me wrong...I hate the village. At times I wish that I could erase it off the face of this world." He said with a growl. "But for the few that accept me. They wouldn't want that. And if you try to harm those I find important. Then you're as good as dead." He said trying to push himself up once more. He removed a kunai from his pouch as he began to use it as a way to claw his way over to Gaara. He couldn't walk. Hell he could barely move his body any more. But he placed the Kunai in his mouth and inched closer to Gaara.

Gaara tried to move but couldn't. He was scared, scratch that he was down right terrified of this young man. "No...Stay away. I won't let my existence fade!" Gaara screamed out. Temari, who had came to earlier, appeared infront of Gaara.

"I won't let you harm my brother!" She stated out as she tried to use her fan. A kunai hit her hand impaling it and preventing her from grabbing the fan. Sasuke appeared as did Sakura. "Naruto!" they called out as they looked at his battered and beaten form on the ground. They looked at Gaara who was a lot worse for wear. Sakura looked at Naruto and ran over to check his wounds. Temari glared at the pink haired shinobi and removed a kunai from her pouch. "I mean it stay away!" She yelled. Sakura didn't move Naruto as his wounds look serious. She gave Pakkun instruction to find Kakashi or someone who could help Naruto. Gaara looked at Temari and thought for a moment before he looked at the ground. He then let tears fall from his eyes.

"Temari...that's enough. I'm done." He said as he tried to move but couldn't. Temari ran over to Gaara and knelt down infront of him. At this point Kankuro dizzily walked over to the group and appeared before Gaara. "Temari, we need to go. The invasion failed." He stated before noticing Sakura and Sasuke. He reached for a weapon but Gaara advised him against it. Gaara was helped up by Temari and Kankuro as he gave one last look at Naruto. They then disappeared as they raced through the forest to get as far away as possible. Sasuke wanted to chase them but knew that he needed to help Naruto before any of that. Naruto closed his eyes as he subcame to the darkness that was unconsciousness.


	14. Chapter 14

"What...Happened." Naruto said out loud before opening his eyes. He had been out a whole three days total. So a lot had gone on. He slowly opened his eyes to adjust to the amount of light that was getting through. He looked beside him and saw Sakura resting on his bed side. He looked over to the other bed in the room and saw Sasuke laying on it. Sasuke wasn't in the hospital but just relaxing. Naruto shifted to sit up as he looked at his team-mates. For the first time in his life he had someone other than the Third Hokage waking him up to greet him. He assumed the old man was just busy with handling the invasion that he couldn't come and see him.

He reached up and grabbed the spot where his curse mark was. He closed his eyes as neither of them had awoken to his shifting yet. So he decided to have a talk with a certain fox for the time being.

"Kurama...what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"The seal is an interesting one Naruto. You know I don't do well with seals any how. It's of a high caliber. I can't purify it. I can heal you from the pain it will bring you until you can find a way to control it though. You should think about using it sometime. The power it gives may be foul, but it's very useful to benefit your goal." Kyuubi finished.

"You have got to be kidding me. I felt the power but it's too tainted. I'm trying to become strong, not kill everything in my way..." Naruto said out loud.

"It's still a useful tool to have if you learn how to control it. If you don't subcome to my hatred, then you'll fair well against this seal." Kyuubi finished.

"I understand Kurama. So what must I do?" Naruto asked.

"I don't have any idea as to how to complete that task. That is something you'll have to find on your own." Kyuubi stated.

Naruto opened his eyes back to the real world as he looked around. Sakura was starting to stir as Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura." He stated while she slowly opened her eyes.

"Naruto! You're awake!" she cheered loudly. Sasuke woke up and looked around noticing Naruto was awake.

"Welcome back Naruto." Sasuke said as Naruto looked around.

"What happened?" Naruto asked. "The last thing I remember was beating the Shukaku's container Gaara. Did anything else happen?" Naruto finished asking as he looked at Sakura's saddened face as Sakura had the urge to bow her head. Sasuke looked away before speaking.

"Orochimaru was behind the invasion. He killed the Kazekage and assumed his identity to force Sand into the invasion with Sound. He attacked the Sandaime Hokage... I'm sorry Naruto. But the Hokage is dead." he finished in tone that was filled with emotion which was odd for Sasuke.

Naruto took a breath of air and closed his eyes. He knew the Sandaime would die, he had just hoped it would be of old age. But he knew that Hiruzen would have wanted to go out as a shinobi, and not some old man just wasting away. "When's the funeral." Naruto said, choking on his words a little. The realization of one of his biggest supporters dying was a shock to him. He had lost a friend, a mentor, a Grandfather. Someone who had help taken care of him for a while.

"Today. If you're up for it we can get your clothes for you." Sasuke replied.

"It's ok." He said while he got out of bed. He walked into a bathroom while grabbing his torn and ripped clothing from his battle with Gaara. He placed the clothing on and exited out the bathroom as he located the Hiraishin Kunai he had at home. He wasn't going to be battling any ways, so he had no problem wasting the chakra. "I'll meet you at the funeral location." He replied before a light flash escaped from underneath the door of the hospital. Staff ran in to see what had happened only to find Sakura and Sasuke looking at the spot Naruto had been.

"Where is the patient?" The doctors asked. Sakura and Sasuke could only reply that he went home and they began to exit. The doctor was a little upset that someone had escaped without the proper treatment but squashed that as he realized it was the Kyuubi brat. 'That kid always heals fast any ways. He'll be fine.' the doctor thought as he left.

Naruto appeared in his home as the light died down quickly. He removed his torn and tattered clothing as he scrapped them. There was no reparing that. He had other outfits like it but he couldn't help but wonder if it was time for another change. He opened his closet and removed a black long sleeved shirt and pants along with black shinobi sandals. He reached up and grabbed a black headband and laid them out as he went to the bathroom and began to take a shower. As he showered for the first time in a while he began to cry. He cried for his lost guide. When he finished and exited the shower he placed his clothes on and disappeared to the memorial site for the burial.

Many shinobi were at the location. The ANBU were in the top rows watching the crowd and the service. The field jounin were after the ANBU, followed by the chuunin ranked shinobi filling in a large amount of rows. The field genin, or the genin without sensei's who had skills to be chuunin but not the experience, were next. The Jounin sensei's were next followed by the Genin who were under them. Then infront of them were some of the academy students. Konohamaru was upset. He was pissed. He was beyond pissed. His grandfather had died before he could show him his skills. He openly cried.

Naruto knew how the kid felt to some degree. While not a biological grandfather, Naruto viewed him as one. Even after the incident with Mizuki Naruto couldn't stay mad at him. He reconciled with the old Hokage after he had gotten time to cope with the events, and they had some great times. Naruto placed his hand on Konohamaru as he cried into Naruto's shirt. He wrapped his other arm around the boy and knelt down to his level as Konohamaru openly sobbed. The sounds of the young boy sobbing touched many of the shinobi and very few of the hardened shinobi were brought to the tears of the boy's cries.

This was the life of a shinobi. They lived, they fought, then they died. There were some things that happened, rarely any lived enough to retire, and even few had the chance to have a normal life. The life wasn't pleseant. Naruto had realized it and many of the new genin were begining to realize it. "It's ok..Konohamaru." Naruto said as he held the boy.

The civilian's were already upset with the loss of a beloved Hokage was already taxing their emotions. But for the Demon kid of Konoha to be comforting the Honorable Grandson. This was far enough for them. "You damn demon brat...how dare you try and trick that young child. Can't you see he's already hurting!" a random civilian yelled out. Naruto paid no mind to it. The crowd was begining to back the random voice as many of the civilian's and younger shinobi who didn't know any better was beginning to agree.

"You demon bastard. Get away from that young boy! Why are you even here!" they began asking. Naruto closed his eyes and began to tune them out. His curse mark was glowing slightly but not enough for a civilian to catch it. But a shinobi did. A jounin looked at the curse mark and noticed that it was oddly similar to Anko's seal. "What's that on your neck?" One of the ninja's asked.

Naruto's eyes opened up if merely for the suspicion that he didn't know his mark was glowing. "It's nothing...a wound I suffered while in the Forest of Death." he replied. Anko looked at Naruto with a little bit of worry. If they noticed his curse seal, they'd have a full blow riot on their hands saying Naruto was a spy for Orochimaru. This was not going to end well.

"That mark looks familiar," said one jounin as he walked up and looked at it closer. Naruto tried to back away but he had Konohamaru in his arms. He released him and handed him to Asuma as he stood up to confront the jounin who was getting into close proximity to him but it was too late. His seal was found out.

"It's a curse mark!"

"He works for that Orochimaru Bastard who's behind all that."

"Spy!"

"Kill the demon traitor"

"ENOUGH!"

The last one caught the crowd off guard. Sasuke Uchiha was standing tall against the crowd as he walked up to Naruto. Murmurs of 'The Uchiha will handle this' was shifting through the crowd as he made his way to Naruto. Sasuke placed his arm around Naruto and began to lead him away from the crowd. "Let's go Naruto. You don't have to stand through this." he said as Sakura made her way to his other side. Kakashi made it to the front of the crowd while he looked around at his fellow villagers and shinobi.

"You ignorant fools. You can't see the tool from it's holdster." he finished as he walked after his student. Cryptic as always Kakashi. Many of the jounin in the crowd got the mention. But the Civilian's were at a loss. Many of the chuunin realized what they had said and began to think on Kakashi's words. Many didn't give a damn either. It all was the demon's fault. Either way, it was going to be fixed tonight.


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto was laying in his bed thinking. 'Why don't I just leave. Sure a few would miss me, but to say I was directly responsible for the death of the Third Hokage...That's pushing it.' Naruto thought to himself. The kyuubi picked up on his thoughts and began to conversate with the young blond.

"True as that may be Naruto, you need the power this place can bring to you. You should use it while you can before daring to leave, unless you can find another source of power." Kyuubi stated.

'While as true as that may be Kurama...This place sickens me. In my thirteen years of life here, only a few people have accepted me for who I am. They don't understand how useful I could be in the protection of this village. I've long ago closed my mind to becoming the Hokage. But I had hopes of at least making my father proud and protecting this...' he stopped as he heard a noise. Someone was entering his house. Some one who wasn't invited. He rose from his bed as he heard the slightest sound of footsteps outside his room. He was going for a light when the sound of shuriken and kunai coming his way broke out.

'They wouldn't!' he thought out loud as he used his senses to deflect the shuriken after catching one of the kunai out the air. He channeled a bit of chakra to his hands as he formed a seal on the ground that began to glow showing five shinobi in his building. "What is the meaning of this!" he asked to the ninja before him.

"It's been revealed to us that you have had a hand in the death of the Third Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki, you are Under Arrest by the order of the council." Stated the ninja. He was lying hoping Naruto would drop his guard and would let them attack. This played two key advantages to the situation. If Naruto believed that they were here to arrest them, if he fought back, he could kill him and claim that he was attacked by Naruto. If he didn't fight back, all the easier to kill the demon brat. Naruto located a seal he had on the Uchiha district for when he went and visited Sasuke. He formed a half ram seal as he said "Explode!" before disappearing in a flash of light and appearing outside the Uchiha district. The explosion destroyed his apartment and awoke half of Konoha killing the intruders. 'That...was the last straw.' Naruto thought as Sasuke rushed to the gates of the clan district.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" He asked as he took in the young blonds sweating appearance. Naruto hadn't had a lot of time to recover and using chakra was painful for him still. Naruto knelt to the ground as he looked at Sasuke.

"They were in my house!" he yelled. "They came to kill me!" he screamed. He was furious. He had been attacked before, but this was the last straw. The usual was for them to ignore him and walk away or not talk to him. Maybe a few glares. Rarely did they ever attack him. But this attack at his home, at his own home. The only place he ever felt safe. This was a crime and treason. Attacking a fellow shinobi was a crime punishable by death. "I'm going before the council. This is the last time that i'll ever let this kind of attack happen again." he stated before Sasuke helped him up.

"Naruto...what are you going to do?" Sasuke asked.

"Something I should have done a long time ago."

The next day came about as Naruto stayed at Sasuke house as Sasuke opened up his home to Naruto. Naruto had washed his clothes from yesterday and had to rewear them. Seeing as how he destroyed his own home to escape. Thinking back, he could have taken a better approach to the situation. But he sensed Jounin level chakra and abilities from the men. Those were seasoned veterns coming to kill him. Either mercenary, meaning they were hired by someone, or home grown, meaning that there was a plan to kill him. Neither out come was pleasent for him. He looked at the sun as it rose and he made his way through the village. ANBU swarmed around him. None showing any hostile intent.

"Uzumaki, Naruto" one ANBU Stated.

"Hai." he replied.

"You are wanted at the Council Room for the incident of yesterday's explosion. We found that it was your apartment that had been destroyed and the council wishes to question you." the ANBU finished.

"I Understand." Naruto replied as they all disappeared from the area.

Utilizing the shushin they began moving across the village at high speeds taking the roof tops as to move with the quickest ease. Contrary to popular belief Shushin wasn't teleportation but high class speed that allowed someone to move at near instantaneous speeds. While this meant that you could cover large distances. If you tried to shushin infront of a tree, you'd have one broken nose and face. They arrived at the council building as the ANBU took their leave as the Council shifted before the sight of the young Uzumaki.

"Uzumaki, Naruto. Do you know why we have called you?" Elder Koharu stated. as she looked at the young boy.

"This is about the Attack on my person at my own home by unknown shinobi." Naruto replied catching murmurs through the Shinobi and Civilian sides.

"Lies! This demon is going to bring about the destruction of Konoha!" one of the civilian council members shouted before someone retorted.

"You're lucky the third's law was retracted or you'd be killed in your place!" Tsume Inuzuka replied as she grit her teeth.

"It was because he knew the Demon was up to no good!" Another civilian council member retorted.

"Or Maybe I had no use for the law since the whole village already knew!" Naruto replied angrily.

"Silence boy. You will speak when spoken to!" Homura replied.

"Go to hell!" Naruto stated as he looked at the elder Councilman.

"You will hold your toung boy or you will spend your life in an ANBU prison cell." Homura shouted heatedly.

"Councilman Homura, you are out of line!" Koharu stated.

"This is way too troublesome." Shikaku replied.

"We need to get to the bottom of this issue now. I'm a busy man...I don't have time for trivial squabbles." Danzo stated as he looked at his former student. Naruto understood by that glance that Danzo would be impassive to him. He would only help him if it benefited him. Naruto knew the arrangement between them at the one month training period for the Chuunin exam. He had his clone practice the summoning technique with Jiraiya while he himself trained with Danzo on wind techniques.

"What do you mean you were attacked, Uzumaki." Hiashi stated as he looked at Naruto. He didn't like the boy but not for the reason of the Kyuubi. There was something dark about him. Something that couldn't be trusted. And it wasn't Kyuubi. But for a shinobi to be attacked within their own home. Someone was getting a death penalty if they were found out to be behind this. Treason wasn't handled lightly. Suddenly an older male with red markings and white hair walked in.

"You all sound like a bunch of animals who are fighting over the last peice of raw steak on the floor." Jiraya exclaimed.

"JIraiya-sama, with all due respect, this issue doesn't concern you." one of the civilian councilmen responded.

"Oh but it does involve the boy's sensei's." Kakashi stated as he walked in with his hand in his pocket and his visible eye narrowed in anger. Kakashi was a level headed shinobi but when someone tried to kill his student. They paid for it. Tenfold.

"Hatake. Why are you-"

"We already made it clear that since this involves our student, we're here to support him." Jiraiya interupted.

Naruto had his hand clenched in anger until he heard the voices of Jiraya and Kakashi. "I was attacked in my home last night. Five high level shinobi, maybe B ranked or A ranked in skill, attacked me stating the council ordered for my arrest in the death of the old man." Naruto stated to the council. The shinobi side and many of the civilian side were in fact suprised by that. But a few of the civilian shifted uncomfortably. If anyone in the room had the power to have the Uzumaki killed. It was either a high class shinobi clan head, or a civilian who had enough political swing and finances to have someone assassinated.

Kakashi's eyes shifted to the civilian council as he began to read their body language while Jiraiya was watching the Shinobi. "It appears we have a traitor among us." Kakashi stated as he watched a one particular member sweat from the attention being turned on him by a majority of the room. "ANBU" Jiraiya called out. "Arrest that man." He said pointing to the sweating councilman. The ANBU appeared around the man placing cuffs on him and disappeared with him as quickly as the order was called.

"Uzumaki, as it has turned out you have been attacked by a member of this village. As of now you have nothing to worry about but in order to dissfuse the situation you and Jiriaya will be sent on a long term mission. Since Jiraiya and Kakashi have both turned down the position of Hokage, it was brought to our attentions yesterday that Tsunade Senju will be the logical choice for Hokage. Jiraiya and you are tasked with the mission of finding her. You have as long as you need as it will help aid if you disappear for a while. This is an S classed Mission. We have reason to believe that if push comes to shove you will either have to fight Tsunade, or you'll have to fight Orochimaru since he'll turn to the only person who can heal his wounds." Danzo stated. "You are dismissed." He finished as Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto walked out the room.

Naruto met Jiraiya at the gates of Konoha as they nodded. With that they exited out of the village and began their search for Tsunade.


	16. Chapter 16

After days of searching it had been an interesting trip. Jiraiya decided to teach Naruto the Rasengan which Naruto, with the aid of Shadow Clones, was able to get it down in less than a week. His chakra control was already fine-tuned thanks to his training in chakra control. On the way Naruto had left behind a task force of one hundred clones to perfect the Hiraishin so that he could use it smoother. When the clones dispelled after they made camp Naruto decided to lay down and go through the information.

He had learned how to use the Hiraishin quickly and efficently. He could use it multiple times back to back without barely losing as much chakra as he had before. Shadow clones was a truly amazing thing. Naruto realized that it was a good time to work on his physical abilities since his techniques he had at this moment were pretty much mastered. He had increased the amount of weights he put on him since last time using his seals, and decided that his strength could use a boost now.

Jiraiya tried to figure out what to teach Naruto but with Naruto already knowing the Rasengan and the Hiraishin, the only thing left to teach Naruto was sage techniques. Naruto was a little bit young to be learning sage techniques but Jiraiya figured he could do that after the trip at the Frog's Summoning Realm. They continued their search and travels while Jiraiya only gave Naruto pointers on how to train his strength and sparred with Naruto to mark how it was going along.

They had searched everywhere but had found no trace of Tsunade. Jiraiya was getting worried and Naruto was losing his patience. They had finally made it to the destination of Tanzaku Town, the last stop they would be able to find Tsunade, and decided to get a hotel room. Jiraiya stated he was going to go search for Tsunade but ended up getting distracted by some random bimbo. Naruto suddenly heard a knock at the door as he expanded his senses and found out that a high level chakra was on the other side of the door. The other was a bijuu level chakra. Naruto was not going to open that-

"Open up brat, we know you're in there." Kisame stated on the other side of the door. He was a few seconds from kicking it in. Naruto used a Hiraishin Seal he had placed on Jiraiya and teleported to him and found him breaking a very powerful genjutsu on the young lady who had distracted him.

"What do you want brat, I'm busy." Jiraiya stated seriously.

"We have company. Very powerful company." Naruto stated.

Jiraiya thought for a moment as he processed who could be powerful enough and smart enough to track down not only Naruto, but him as well. He decided that it must of been the only people who would be looking for Naruto and realized that it must of been the Akatsuki threat his informants had been telling him about. Jiraiya placed his hands on Naruto's shoulder. "Take us back to the room, be prepared to fight." He said as they vanished in a flash of light.

"You've let the target get away Kisame." Itachi stated plainly. Kisame smiled at Itachi.

"Oh you're just upset that the little brat pulled one over on you. I for one enjoy a cha-"

Flash

Two kunai came out the flash and launched themselves at Itachi and Kisame. Itachi tilted his head as he avoided the kunai while Kisame blocked with the hilt of his blade. "Nice move." Kisame stated as he brought his blade the remaining way down and slammed it into the wood. Jiraiya appeared from the damage of the wood with a Rasengan in hand. He slammed the Rasengan into Kisame who went flying out through the wall and began spinning.

Both ninja's turned their attention on Itachi who was very interested in something that had caught his eye. "It's been a while...little brother." He stated as Sasuke looked at Itachi impassively.

"Naruto." Sasuke said ignoring Itachi. It took all of his will power but he realized something bigger was at stake. Kakashi and a few other jounin had a run in with Itachi. When Sasuke found out Itachi was in the area, he wanted to chase. But when he heard that Naruto was the reason he was there. He had to warn his new brother. Sasuke had tracked down Itachi and Kisame's location as they weren't really trying to cover their tracks. "They're after you! You and Jiraiya-Sama need to go ahead and escape. I'll try and hold them off." Sasuke stated activating his sharingan and clearing his head of the anger that clouded him.

Forming a Chidori without gripping his hand he pulled out a few kunai with explosive tags out of his pouch and threw them at Itachi. Itachi removed some shuriken from his pouch hidden by his clothes and clashed with the Kunai causing them to imbed in the wall and explode causing smoke to cloud his vision. He could see the chakra of the chidori begin to move meaning Sasuke was coming for him but the smoke was clouding the vision. He just had to track by sound on the Chidori.

Itachi reached his hand out catching the Chidori as Sasuke began to overcharge it causing it to electrify himself and Itachi. Itachi was shocked by Sasuke's determination to stall him and because of the electricity surging through him he couldn't let go. He did the only thing he could do at the moment. He caught eye contact with Sasuke and placed him in the Tsukiyomi.

Sasuke realized with that he would be out but he would be tortured watching his parents die and would be helpless to stop it. With Sasuke unconscious Naruto leapt into action and threw a Hiraishin kunai. He aimed directly for Itachi's head but should Itachi either dodge it or catch it he'd be able to grab Sasuke and get out of the location. Jiraiya formed a few hand seals and wiped some blood on his thumb as he summoned a frog which clouded the room with a little bit of smoke once more. When the smoke cleared it showed Itachi tilting his head as the kunai imbedded itself near Sasuke's head. Naruto disappeared and gathered Sasuke while the toad launched foward at Itachi and began to strike with it's blades.

This allowed Naruto to collect Sasuke and escape with Jiraiya out the building. Kisame appeared in a body flicker once more near Itachi with his blade drawn and laid into the toad with the massive Samehada. The toad was unsummoned back to it's realm and Kisame was not a happy camper. That rasengan hurt like hell. "Looks like you let them get away this time Itachi." Kisame stated.

Itachi just grunted at that statement as they turned and walked out the building. Things didn't go as planned but they did manage to get new information. Maito Gai had tracked the battle and had followed Naruto and Jiraiya and stopped them in order to collect Sasuke. Gai returned to Leaf with Sasuke to put him in the intensive care unit while Naruto and Jiraiya continued to complete their mission. Jiraiya looked at the setting sun and decided they had to find a new place to stay. He also was very hungry and thirsty and felt like a nice bottle of sake would hit the spot along with some food. He and Naruto walked into a bar to see none other than the Legendary Sucker sitting at the bar with her apprentice.

"I can't believe this. Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked looking a little bit shocked to have found the slug queen.

"Jiraiya you old fool, I didn't expect to see you here." She said looking at him then to Naruto. "I see you have a new student huh?" She asked. She was obviously not in a good mood so Jiraya didn't want to push anything.

"Tsunade Senju?" Naruto asked.

"I see he know's my name." She replied.

"You are to return to Konoha immediately. You've been selected to be the Fifth Hokage." He replied as Tsunade began to show a little bit of anger.

"I decline. It's a fool's job any how. What idiot would wan-"

"I suggest you don't finish that, Tsunade-sama." Naruto said leaking a small amount of killing intent. While he may not have love for the village, he did idolize the Hokage's and their abilities. Not to mention his father was one. Stepping on the name of Hokage was like stepping on Naruto himself. And Naruto refused to be stepped on any more.

"Or what brat, you're a half a century to early to be challenging me." She said stepping into Naruto's comfort zone. Naruto collected himself and lowered his killing intent. He could wipe the floor with this out of shape Sannin, but she didn't need to know that. And bringing her back against her will would solve nothing. But he realized he could damage her pride a little and get the right results.

"What do you say to a little wager then. Tsunade-sama." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"A Bet...What's the stakes?" She asked.

"A small fight. If I win you return to Konoha with us. If I lose you can leave and we won't search for you again. You have my word as a Konoha shinobi." Naruto claimed. He even pointed to his head band for added effect. Tsunade quickly accepted and the two stepped outside.

"Prepare to head back to Konoha limpin' kid, cause I'm gonna wipe the floor with ya." She stated.

Naruto deactivated his weights and began to remove his over coat and his head band. He removed his shirt revealing his small yet detailed frame and took a taijutsu stance with a kunai in a reverse grip and his left hand in a claw fashion posted up to block. Tsunade kept her lazy stance and Jiraya gave the count down. After Jiraya stated Go, Naruto dashed off and launched a strike with the Kunai.

Tsunade dodged it easily and sent a punch for the boy's face. He moved his head and grabbed Tsunade's wrist then he brought the kunai back and went to stab her in the arm with it. Instead using her massive strength she pulled the boy foward and threw him into the air. Naruto flipped a couple times before throwing his kunai at Tsunade's location as she caught the Kunai and examined it.

'Gotcha.' Naruto thought to himself as he disappeared in a flash of yellow revealing himself to be behind her. Naruto launched a swift sweep of the legs causing Tsunade to begin to fall backwards as he caught her neck and began to bring her head back into the ground. Tsunade using her flexibility flipped with the momentum and brought her legs over as she punched Naruto in the back sending him flying towards the ground as Tsunade stood up right. Naruto laid on the ground until he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone... But when!?" She said out loud as Naruto appeared behind her with the Rasengan in hand. Tsunade launched a powerful strike at the ground but Naruto disappeared in a flash of light as Tsunade didn't move. She felt the wind of the Rasengan aimed at her back and knew she was beat. "When did you mark me." She asked.

"My clone did when he went to slam your head into the ground. If a rookie genin can do this to you...I guess you're not Hokage material after all." He stated making Tsunade's anger rise once more.

"And what would you know about being Hokage material kid." she asked heatedly.

"My father was the fourth Hokage. If you really think I had the Rasengan and Hiraishin for show, then you're sadly mistaken." He said as he deactivated the Rasengan and walked over collecting his things.

"I don't care about our bet. There's no way I'm returning to Konoha..." she said out loud. In a small whisper she continued. "Not after everything I've lost there." she finished.

Naruto scoffed causing her to glare at the boy. "Such weakness is unbefitting of a Sannin." he said as he began to put his shirt back on. He placed his cloak over his shirt and retied his head band as Tsunade glared at him.

"What was that?" She asked seeing red.

"Stop bitching like you were delt the worst hand in the deck. There's been plenty other's who have lost everything and didn't drown themselves in gambling and sake. There are more who's pain transcend yours and they still fight to prove themselves. At least you had someone to love you in the beginning. When you grow up alone and hated by the very people you were used to protect, then you can talk to me about pain and loss." He said as he walked away. "I expect you to be at the gates of the town before dawn. If you're not there. I'll hunt you down. And I'll end you myself." he stated as he and Jiraya disappeared.

"I wouldn't be late Tsunade. He mean's what he says. And he's never gone back on his word." Jiraiya added.


	17. Chapter 17

Tsunade was furious...scratch that she was livid. This young brat had the nerve to talk down to her in a way that made her feel like a fresh out the academy genin. As if he could end her on a whim. She hadn't felt that powerless since she faced Hanzo the Salamander. Even then she had two other team mates helping her. She didn't like this one bit. But deep down she knew that this kid wasn't just some genin. He was a killer. He was a true shinobi. And he would damn near follow through on his threat of ending her. The sad part about all of this was that she knew he wouldn't think twice about it.

Shizune looked at her teacher and could see how angry she was. First Orochimaru pop's up asking her to heal his arms, then Jiraiya and his student pop up and not only humiliate her, but also give her an ultimatum. Return or be killed like the Missing Ninja she truely was. The only reason many believed her to be spared the same fate as missing ninja's was due to her heritage as the Last Senju and the Greatest Medic Konoha had to offer. This was basically a recall to Konoha and she had no true choice to accept.

Tsunade on the other hand was mulling it over. She could return to Konoha, back to the place she loathed with a passion due to the death of her loved ones. Or she could take up Orochimaru's offer and take a shot at healing his arms. Hell she could even join him if she wanted. But that would be stepping on Hiruzen's memory. He never did anything harsh to her, would she give his killer the joy of having all of Hiruzen's hard work at crippling him healed by his own student. One he loved almost as a daughter.

An internal struggle was raging inside Tsunade herself. She decided she'd continue thinking about it in her room as she walked back to their lodgings. Shizune followed her not muttering a single word as the time went on. When they reached their destination Tsunade began to pack her clothing as she urged Shizune to do so. She had made her choice.

Back in another part of town Jiraiya and Naruto were laying on opposite beds with Jiraiya working on the next Icha Icha. Naruto had a toothpick in his mouth and was twirling it around. "You know she might run kid." JIraiya said to Naruto.

"Doesn't matter if she does. She's marked by my Hiraishin. As soon as she tries to leave the gate without us knowing. I'd be able to flash to her and take her by force if need be. Temporary Paralysis is a excellent jutsu for taking someone alive. Really simple jutsu honestly. But in the hand's of a Master it's a perfect way of capturing someone alive." he replied as he removed a kunai and began twirling it.

"So if she decides to fight back, will you kill her?" Jiraiya asked. He was hoping the answer was no as he still had love for her. But he just couldn't let Tsunade walk away from this. More was at stake than the state of Konoha. The land of Fire was at risk maybe even the elemental nations. And if Konoha was weak it could spell destruction on a scale that Iwa would pale in comparison to. The village needed a Kage.

The only other true candidates would be Danzo or Kakashi Hatake. Shikaku Nara was a suggestion at one time, but he was also too lazy for the position. Kakashi had the experience, but the drive wasn't there. Hiashi Hyuuga would have too much power as Hokage controlling one of the last major clans and the seat of Hokage. The other clan heads wer ein the same boat.

Hell Danzo would turn the village into a true shinobi nation. And as good as that sounded to some shinobi. His attempt to take over the elemental nations and have them fall under Konoha would either cause major flux in power, or destruction of Konoha to the point of non-existence. Then there was Naruto.

Naruto didn't have the experience for Hokage. He had the skills in a way. Competing with a Sannin, even a washed up one, was a feat many jounin's would have failed to do. Hell Jiraiya thinks he would be hard pressed to beat the kid. And it wasn't just because of his skill. It was because of his unpredictability and stamina. He had the brains to pull off amazing and unbelievable feats and the energy to do it again and again. Jiraiya had battle smarts but even he would be hard pressed to figure out what Naruto's next move would be in a fight.

They both soon drifted off to sleep with their thought's consumed by what Tsunade would do. As they slept peacefully through the night, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what would be done about Orochimaru. The man was going to die, there was no doubt about it. Be it Naruto's or Jiraiya's hand, the snake was good as skinned. But how would he go about it. Naruto remembered some of Orochimaru's battle movements in the forest.

The snake had obviously revealed too much of his skill. Especially with that rebirth technique. That would be a bitch to get around. Naruto knew that Orochimaru didn't have the chakra to do that over and over so that problem could be solved. But the pulling himself together again. That was a problem as well. Naruto had asked how to perform the Five Elements Sealing technique. Jiraiya had been happy to show him and show him how to unseal it. Naruto had a different way of unsealing it with a seal he developed but having the technique in his repertoire would be good for his combat strategy. It was a great way of dealing with fellow Jinchuriki and an excellent way to disable an opponent.

The next day Naruto woke up early. He realized he had a little bit of time. There were still stars out and he decided to have his shadow clones go over a few basic's on the sealing technique. The night before, Naruto had decided that if he was to face Orochimaru, that seal would be his way of beating the snake. While the snake was favorable to earth clones, Jiraiya's Swamp of the Underworld would provide a meaningful counter to the use of Earth Clones. He had a few clones begin the process of breaking down the sealing technique and how to use it in combat with strategy. He was, himself, going over the skills of the snake sannin.

It was becoming dawn and Jiraiya and Naruto was at the gate. Naruto looked towards the edge of the town hoping Tsunade would approach. He was surprised when Shizune returned alone and was running. "Naruto, Jiraiya! Help! Tsunade went to Orochimaru. She thinks she can take him on his own and avenge Sandaime Hokage." Shizune requested frantically.

Jiraiya and Naruto quickly told Shizune to lead the way as they dashed off. What ever plan Tsunade had, it may or may not work so using the Hiraishin to appear would basically cause any plan she had to fail. As they reached the location, they masked their signatures as to approach carefully. They saw Tsunade walking towards Orochimaru with a medical technique. Naruto began gathering chakra waiting for the right time to strike also alerting his position as well.

Orochimaru's eye's twiched in the location he felt the chakra then looked to Tsunade. "It appears we have ran out of time Tsunade." He said as he began to step away from Tsunade. "Your offer has expired. You've tried to lead me into a trap." he stated as Kabuto appeared from the bushes throwing a Kunai towards Tsunade. Naruto used this time to Hiraishin before Tsunade and grab her before pulling her out the path of the kunai. As she fell to the ground Naruto formed a half seal creating a large amount of shadow clones.

Kabuto looked at the original Naruto while the others were taking defensive positions. "Well, looks like the little Kyuubi kid is all grown up now huh. You think you're big enough to play in the big league?" Kabuto taunted. Kabuto was a great medic, but he was also great at manipulation and getting people to do what he wanted. So using insults and taunts to cause his opponents to throw caution into the wind and forget about strategy so that he could pick them apart was another speciality of his.

"Stuff it traitor. I don't play those kind of games." Naruto said while removing a single kunai. The clones scattered at this notation as Naruto threw the kunai at Kabuto. Kabuto intended to deflect the kunai until he saw what was attached to it. Naruto formed a single hand seal while his clone else where formed their own. 'Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' The clone thought and the kunai became a large amount of kunai. "Katsu!" Naruto stated and the kunai's exploded into a mass of inferno taking out a large portion of land. Another clone at that time had used Hiraishin to bring Tsunade to him.

"What were you thinking..." Naruto asked Tsunade.

"What's it to you?" Tsunade huffed back.

"We need to deal with Orochimaru and Kabuto now..." Jiraiya stated.

Naruto thought for a moment before dispelling and Naruto recieved what the clonew as thinking. He used Hiraishin appearing before Jiraiya. "We should retreat. Orochimaru is not going to pursue us if we retreat and fighting an unneccesary battle is only going to prolong our departure. Besides. The snake will die. Be it now or later, he has no room on this earth." Naruto finished.

JIraiya looked at the boy like he was crazy. It was four against two. Surely they could end the snake here and now. Tsunade thought about it and realized Orochimaru would try to escape. Letting him escape would prevent them from having to fight a battle in the first place. Orochimaru was a dangerous enemy, but for now, he was wounded. And he was weak. Not to mention Naruto was right. The snake was already dead. He just didn't know it yet.

"I agree with Naruto." Tsunade said shocking Jiraiya. Jiraiya looked upset but went with the crowd. Naruto gathered them near him and pulsed a lot of chakra as they Hiraishin backed to Konoha's gates.

As the light appeared the chuunin's at the gate's took a defensive position until they saw who it was. "Naruto...Jiraiya-sama? Tsunade-Sama!?" They stated.

"That's Godaime Hokage to you, chuunin." Tsunade replied.

"They could have done better." Naruto replied dryly. Jiraiya laughed at the idea of Tsunade and Naruto bickering all the way to the Hokage mansion.

"Watch it genin or you'll be doing D-ranks for a year." Tsunade ordered.

Suddenly, Naruto decided that it was a good time to play the silent game.


	18. Chapter 18

Naruto was currently sitting atop the Hokage's head looking down on the village. He was currently angry beyond words. Because of his curse seal and the Kyuubi inside of him, it was rumored that he was in conjunction with Orochimaru in the attack against the Hokage. It made no sense. He couldn't understand why the council was pushing so hard. The shinobi side completely understood the innocence the boy had but also, due to years of being shinobi, had to not trust the boy as they did not know him personally.

A leaf floated from the tree behind him and landed on his outstretched hand as he gripped it. He was seriously being pushed to the edge by these "Mock Trials" and was getting tired of the civilians. He had long quit trying to gain their acceptance but he needed to face the facts. He grew too powerful and they saw that as a threat. They wanted him silence and Orochimaru's attack gave them the leeway they needed to start planting doubt. It wasn't to long before many of the genin began to see a few connections. One of the few was the ever stotic but always logical Shino Aburame.

Shikamaru, with all his intellect could realize that there were some small points of evidence but they couldn't over take the doubt in the Nara's mind. Shino refused to work on missions where Naruto would be called for and this put the village selection in a bind as Shikamaru was sometimes chosen to replace Shino. This threw off joint missions such as a recent B rank the joint-sqaud was sent on. Quiet frankly Naruto was sick of it. These were the people he saved from the Shukaku. A bijuu. They could at least show some gratitude.

The sun was setting and he was erupted from his thoughts when he felt a presence behind him. "You must be as stupid as the other's if you think you're simply gonna kill me." He said removing one of his claws from it's seal as it drapped over his hand. The man held his hands up in a defensive manner.

"Easy Naruto...It's just me." Kakashi stated and Naruto lowered his claw.

"Kakashi I think i'm loosing it." Naruto stated as he resealed his claw and placed his hands to his head. "They've been coming after me and I feel like an enemy in my own village. I can't take this any more. Even Sasuke and Sakura are beginning to have their doubts." he stated as his eyes darkened a little bit. "They even come at night. It's like the whole village wants me dead. I can count the people I truely trust on one hand now." he finished.

Kakashi looked at his student in grief. How could they treat their own kind like this. Then the thought came across him. They don't treat him as their own kind. "At least Lady Tsunade is kind enough to treat the men to a quick and painless death." He tried lightening the mood. It didn't help.

"I don't care about their punishment. I'm losing my mind. If one more assassin comes at me. I'm putting an end to the civilian council...perminately." He finished as he released a bit of killing intent. Unknown to Naruto, but known to Kakashi, someone was watching the conversation. They rushed off to report what they had just heard.

Tsunade was looking over more paperwork to have Naruto brought up on the charge of treason, restoration for the village from the attack, requests for her aid in the hospital, and many other things she needed to approve and deny. She balled up Naruto's paper and threw it in the trash can until a chuunin came barging in her off. "Lady Tsunad-"

"There better be a good reason you're barging into my office Chuunin." She said quickly and coldly. She was in one of those moods.

"I-I heard young Uzumaki-san threatening the civilian council. He's planning to overthrow part of the government." The chuunin stated. He was leaving certain parts out. Anything to get the demon-brat arrested. conspiracy to commit treason was treated with harsh punishment. Ask the Uchiha. Tsunade looked at the chuunin then stood out her chair and walked over to him.

"So help me if this is another try to get Naruto executed or thrown out the village, you'll spend every waking day regretting the day you decided to step foot in this office. Do I make myself clear!" she said with enough killing intent to make the man's blood run cold.

"Ha...Hai Lady Tsunade." He stated as he left in a shushin and gathered his breath.

Tsunade made her way to Naruto's house. She needed to get out that office or she'd go crazy. She knocked on the door three times and Naruto stood at the door with a Kunai to her neck. "What the hell brat!" Tsunade asked.

"Sorry Lady Tsunade. I'm a little jumpy from the recent assassination attempts. Some of them really cut it close." he said as he rubbed the place of a non-existent, thanks to the Kyuubi, scar. Tsunade walked into the brat's apartment. It looked a little better than when she had first gotten there. With the string of missions that they had been on Naruto didn't have a shortage of money. Infact he was well off for the time being. Tsunade took a seat at one of the tables and Naruto sat down infront of her.

"What is it with you and these people brat." Tsunade asked to open up the conversations. "I keep getting more and more execution requests for what happened with Orochimaru. They're calling you a traitor." She finished.

Naruto removed his shirt and showed her his shoulder. "It's this damn seal. Orochimaru put it on me and i've been looking into it but I can't seem to find a way to remove it without causing me any harm. I have managed to put a few seals on it so that I don't gain the negatives effects of the seal, but other than that, they believe me to be one of Orochimaru's right hand men. They say 'The Demon and the Snake teamed up to take our beloved Hokage away and Kill us all!'" Naruto mocked.

Tsunade began to think things over. If this was becoming a normal issue she would have to find a solution that would both benefit Naruto and the village. She didn't like being pressured. Then again she was the Hokage. She could just say "To Hell with you All" and leave it at that, but they would only complain more. Complaining was bad for ninja moral as many ninja came from civilian family. Not all of the Ninja Army was made of Clans.

Tsunade interlocked her fingers as she began to think. "What's with the face Lady Tsunade..." Naruto began. 'That's her thinking face, when ever she's like that...It's not good for me.' He thought to himself.

"I'm trying to find a way to silence all them. But the only way I could think of was if you were a traitor. There's got to be a way to get them to shut up." she explained. Naruto got a thought and then began to realize that there were a few ways. But it would cause for him to trick his friends. Or what was left of them. He realized that wouldn't be a good idea. He was starting to lose his grip on his sanity. This was pulling him in too many ways. He would go on missions with people who didn't trust him, they would put his life purposely in danger if he could and when called on it people would vouch in defense of the person putting him in harms way.

He was losing it and fast. "Tsunade...I need to resign from the ranks. It's to the point I can't even trust those i'm sent on missions with. Do you know an ally ninja actually pushed me in front of a jutsu on a mission." He said.

"I remember. The squad said that it was aimed at you and that you were imagining things. It was an unlikely story but my hands were tied because a majority of the team agreed with him. That's why I've restricted Team 7 from any joint missions. Sakura and Sasuke were livid...I can't believe Sakura actually threatened to castrate the boy." Tsunade said laughing out loud. "Are you sure you're going to do this Naruto? It's up to you." she asked.

Naruto removed his head band and handed it over to Tsunade. I'm positive.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been three days since Naruto had left the Ninja Ranks. Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato, was just a civilian now. Did that mean he stopped training. Heavens no. Naruto couldn't stay in the village any more. The treatment, the looks, the name calling. It was getting to him. He was planning on moving out the village. Jiraiya was a little upset that he had left the Ninja force but Naruto explained it to him and he understood. Who would want to stay in an army where they could only trust a select few. Anyone else would send them to their deaths.

Naruto was currently outside at a training field getting a few laps in and working on his body and his muscles. He had bigger people he could end up facing one day in the world. He wanted to be stronger and a little bit bulkier. Not overly muscular but enough muscle to hone his skills. Once he finished his laps he formed a few clones and had them work on his muscle memory. He was working on how to dodge attacks subconsciously and getting his body into shape for attacks. He just didn't have it in him to quit training.

Suddenly he felt something in the area as he dispelled his clone and stood on the ground eye's shifting from left to right. "I know you're there. Reveal yourself." He said gripping his hands. He began gathering a little bit of chakra in his hands. Four shinobi with sound notes on their heads appeared to him. "My how the mighty have fallen." One of them said.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked.

"We've come to extend an offer Lord Orochimaru has given you. He wishes to bring you to Oto so that he may train you. He feels your talents could be best put to use with us. Instead of wasting away as a mere, civilian." Sakon stated.

"Why should I...What does Orochimaru have that I could possibly want." Naruto said out loud. 'Other than his life. Actually...this could work perfectly.' He thought.

"He can train you, teach you things no one, not even Jiraiya could teach you. He could give you ultimate power." Sakon finished.

"I don't see why we have to take this Shit-head with us. He's even smaller than me. He looks like a weakling. He'll only get in the way any how." Tayuya interrupted.

"Tayuya, a lady shouldn't use such language." Jirobo scolded.

"Shut up Fat ass." Tayuya replied.

"You." Naruto pointed to the red head. "Step foward." Naruto commanded. She gritted her teeth and looked at him.

"Did I offend you prick?" She taunted.

Naruto launched a punch and she easily dodged it. As soon as she reached for a kunai she felt cold steel on her neck and the Naruto infront of her who through the punch puffed away into smoke. Naruto was behind her with a Kunai as the other three looked on in shock. 'So fast.' They thought.

"Do not insult me again. Or I'll end your life. As for your offer...I accept. Where do I meet you at?" Naruto asked.

"Meet us outside the village walls. You can leave everything else behind, you won't be needing it." Sakon said as they disappeared in a shushin. Tayuya stayed behind rubbing her neck where the kunai was pressed until she disappeared as well. Naruto headed out the door and began to walk towards the gate.

He ran into a few glares on the way but was stopped by a former comrade. 'Hinata,' he thought, 'What does she want with me.' he looked at her. A beautiful kunoichi with strength untapped. Naruto felt sorry for her, yet respected her will to try and get stronger. She would be strong one day. She just needed the right push.

"Naruto, I was wondering..." She started but began to stuttered. Naruto wished she'd get rid of that. It made her hard to understand and wasted time. He didn't outright hate her, he just wished she get over that insecurity.

"Yes?" Naruto replied.

"I..well, I was wondering, if you wanted to...I don't know..." Hinata started but looked on the verge of passing out.

"Do you want me to go get something to eat with you?" He said out loud. 'She's had this crush on me for too long. Maybe I should go on a date with her to get this out of her system. One date won't hurt.' Naruto concluded in his head.

"Like a date?" she tripped over the words.

"Sure. I've got nothing but time." Naruto stated as he grabbed her arm and took her to the only restaurant that would serve him. 'To Ichiraku Ramen we go.'

They walked through the village and even Hinata couldn't help but see the hatred rolling off the villagers. They wouldn't out right say anything any more in fear of Naruto but they realized that he wasn't a shinobi. Anything went with him once again. They tried a few thing but Naruto put a stop to that on the first try. He had one of his shadow clones sneak in and kill the last person to do something with him. He left no trace of himself ever being there. Sure they tried to pin it on him. But plausible cause wasn't enough. They needed evidence. And from an assassin you don't get that.

They walked inside Ichiraku as Naruto called out, "Hey old man. One Miso." and sat at the table. Hinata sat next to Naruto and Ayame took notice and instantly came to the counter beaming at Naruto.

"So Naruto, on a date!?" She exclaimed. Hinata turned red instantly.

"Yeah actually. Hinata asked me out and how was I to refuse. So Ramen's on me." He said. Naruto never forgot one's who did him favors. He knew just how many bowls of Ramen this place had given him. What better place for a last meal.

Hinata ordered one as well and Naruto and Hinata ate. Naruto talked to her about her dreams and her goals. He noticed her stuttered went away. She had big goals. To rid the Hyuuga clan of the cage bird seal and to unite the clans. Very big goals indeed. Naruto got serious for a moment and looked at her.

"Hinata. Listen, don't think of this as harsh. But you have a long ways to go before you get to the top. You're not very strong to be a leader and probably won't be for years to come. But don't sell yourself short. You need confidence in yourself. You need to believe you can achieve what you're setting out to do. You have the drive and the will to do it. You just lack the skills and the confidence to go along with it." He finished exclaiming. She looked hurt but then he saw her eyes narrow a little as she processed the words. Naruto had called her weak but said she would grow. He had said she lacked confidence but said she had the will to be more. Naruto had given her a new hope and she would follow it.

She smiled at him. The most genuine smile she had given anyone in a while. "Thank you, Naruto." She finished. They continued to eat the ramen until it was time to go. Naruto quickly went and formed a shadow clone to walk her home before Hinata could notice while he disappeared in a quick speed. The clone walked her home as he went towards the gate.

Naruto began to walk until he noticed another one of his comrades. "Sakura." he called out.

"Naruto..." She replied.


	20. Chapter 20

"What are you doing out this late, Sakura." Naruto asked. Sakura looked at him. No back pack so he obviously can't be heading out. But he's a civilian now, what need could he have to be here at the gate. He's not the type to sit and relax outside for no reason.

"Just, enjoying the night. What are you doing here Naruto." she asked. Maybe should could get some answers out of him.

'She's looking for answers...might as well tell her. If anyone deserves to know. It's her.' "I'm leaving the village. I have nothing left here." He said as Sakura looked in shock.

"What do you...what do you mean you have nothing left." Sakura asked. She felt like she knew. But didn't want to face the answer.

"The only one's I can trust now are you, Sasuke, and Kakashi. I have no reason to stay in the village any more. While you are family to me in some way...I can't stay. There's just too much pain here." He finished.

"Where will you go."

"I don't know." he lied. He hated to lie but as a Ninja it was necessary. Old habits die hard.

"What will you do." She asked

"Live...for the first time in years, I'll live a life I want to." Naruto replied.

'A life he...oh...wow. I had no idea it was that bad.' Sakura thought to herself. What could she do. Civilians could come and go as they pleaded. She had no notice that a Jinchuriki was a powerful asset to the village. She only saw her friend, not some weapon.

"I'll miss you, Naruto." She said.

Naruto walked foward. "I'll miss you too. Sakura." he said as he wrapped her in a hug. "Take care." He said as he released her and made his way out the gate.

Sakura walked the other path and looked back at the gate. 'Wait till Sasuke here's this...he'll flip. I should go see Master Tsunade. She should be the first to know.' She thought as she made her way to the Kage mansion. Suddenly things got blurry. She fell on the road as Naruto kept walking and hid the senbon back in his sleeve.

'Sleep well, Sakura.' He thought as he disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

"You're late." Sakon said as Naruto appeared.

"I got held up." Naruto stated. "So, where are we going."

"To the Land of Rice, Lord Naruto." Sakon said.

"What's with the formality..." he asked.

"Lord Orochimaru gave explicit instruction that should you join us you'd become our leader." he stated.

"Fine then. Let's head out."

"Not so fast Lord Naruto. As it is now, your curse seal is only at level one, we need to fix this and we have what is called a Mind Awakening Pill. In order for you to advanced to level two. You'll need to die for a short amount of time."

'Was this a trap...' he thought. "Die?" He said out loud. "What do you mean."

"After you take this pill, we will place you in this container, we'll seal it so that the seal can advance and you will gain more power. But in order to do that you have to go through an extremely painful and deadly procedure, the pill allows this to happen with minimal damages. You'll be fine once the seals wear off." Sakon explained.

'I've got nothing other than my life to lose...I'll take it.' Naruto thought and popped the pill in his mouth. As soon as he did he climbed into the container and they sealed it. Once it was closed they began their journey.

Midway through the travel they tangled with a squad of Leaf ninja and had to land off in a field to rest. Around this time, Sakura woke up. She realized that she had collapsed and didn't know why. What was she going to do. She was heading some where but she got distracted. All of a sudden Naruto flashed into her mind. Naruto left. She was on her way to...she had been knocked out. She had no other reason for collapsing as such. She raced to the Hokage mansion. If Naruto went to such extremes, Tsunade must not have known.

"Lady Tsunade!" she said barging in.

"Sakura, what is the meaning of-"

"Naruto left!" she exclaimed. Tsunade looked shocked before she quickly summoned the ANBU. "Get me any remaining chuunin and jounin in the area. Anyone not on a mission or not on call for a mission or on standby I want in my office right now." she ordered. The ANBU left.

A few minutes later the Anbu came back with a few selection. Many of them disliked Naruto and would rather kill than bring him back, but there was only one who was available that was at least on Naruto's good side. "All but Shikamaru Nara are dismissed." She stated as Shikamaru uttered a quick "Troublesome." before they all left.

"Last night, Naruto Uzumaki, former Leaf Genin, left Konohagakure. We need you to gather a group of shinobi and track him down, you have any ninja in our command to track him down. Keep the numbers above three but below seven. We can't afford to send more than that." She ordered.

Shikamaru looked shock for a minute. 'Naruto...but, why?' He thought. "Lady Tsunade. Is there any particular reason you have me going after a civilian." he asked out loud. He didn't know Naruto was a jinchuriki, and civilian were free to leave any time they wished. Many filled out applications so that no one could come back disguised as them. But if a civilian left without permission they were usually not allowed back. If Naruto left without permission, he wasn't coming back. So why would she bother.

"Naruto is special, while he isn't a shinobi any more...he's special to the village in a unique way." Tsunade informed. Sakura immediately took anger to that.

"You see him as some sort of weapon..." She asked. Tsunade recognized that she knew.

"No. Not me. The council. They'll want him to come back. And it won't be pretty. They may hate them but when they realize that Naruto could potentially be used against him. They'll all but order his execution or capture at any means necessary. I'm glad you came to me Sakura. We can keep this low key for now." She stated. Sakura had no reason not to trust Lady Tsunade. She was close to Naruto, this much was sure. Naruto pointed her to Tsunade for training.

"Sorry for doubting you, Lady Tsunade." Sakura stated.

"We'll worry about that later. Shikamaru, you're dismissed." She stated as Shikamaru left out the door quickly.

"Let's see a Squad of Less than Seven but more than Three. See would be borderline that and four would be too less. Five will balance out nicely counting myself. I'll need a tracker to hunt down Naruto scent, I'll need someone strong as a combat specialist...Someone I can trust, a scout, hm...I have to find Sasuke." Shikamaru thought as he made his way to the Uchiha complex.

Shikamaru knocked on Sasuke's door. "What is it? Do you know what time it is." Shikamaru groaned as he looked at Sasuke. The boy was obviously still sleep having a day off.

"Sasuke...Naruto's left the village. Lady Tsunade has given me permission to track him down and return him back. I need your help." he stated.

"I'll be ready in five minutes." Sasuke replied then left to get changed and ready. He came back five minutes later. "Alright so who else are you bringing along..." Sasuke asked.

"Chouji, Neji, and Kiba should do fine. Neji because of the Byakugan, Kiba due to his sense of smell, and Chouji because of his power. You'll be the all a rounder in our group to cover us should we unfortunately lose one of them. With your sharingan and your strength, we can be ready just in case." Shikamaru stated.

They left the Uchiha District quickly and tracked down the other three. Within twenty minutes they had the squad composed. Kiba was in front with Chouji behind him, Sasuke was in the center with himself behind Sasuke. With Neji's byakugan he was to bring up the rear. Before they were about to leave Sakura and Hinata saw them off at the gate.

"Sasuke...Please. Bring back Naruto." Sakura asked.

"Neji...I know we don't get along as much as I hope...but please. Just bring back Naruto!" she begged Neji. Neji had never seen Hinata like this before. It hurt him a little to see one who had been so nice to him so saddened by Naruto's departure.

Both promised to bring Naruto back no matter what and left.

Not to far into the travels Neji's byakugan caught something. Obviously the sound four had camped out for the night. They had sustained injuries from their battles and decided it was good to rest. Orochimaru wasn't going to use Naruto as a vessel so they had a fair time limit to bring him back. although Orochimaru still wanted the Uchiha, he would have to wait until he could get Naruto to fetch him for him.

"I can sense a chakra presence up ahead. Four powerful shinobi along side a container that's emitting chakra. Probably from seals." Neji stated.

"I can smell Naruto's scent." Kiba added.

"What should we do Shikamaru." Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru began to think. "Alright hold up." he said as they landed on a tree. Just then Shikamaru began to think of a way to approach them. If there were four people and Naruto's scent was on them, then either Naruto was kidnapped before he could get to where he was going, or he went with them willingly. They saw no sign of a struggle along the way so kidnapping was out. Naruto went with these guys.

With the sound four Kidomaru was talking to Sakon. "Someone just tripped by wires. What should we do." he asked Sakon.

"We'll wait for them to come at us. Then we'll take them out." Sakon replied.

The five of them appeared before the four of them. "Alright, we know you have Naruto in that container. Give him back and we'll let you leave, don't and we'll be forced to use other methods." Shikamaru threatened. Neji could tell that they were at least chuunin level but with Sasuke and Neji in his squads they should match pretty well with his intellect. He wasn't underestimating them though. Jirobou stepped forward and began to form a few hand seals.

"Earth Style: Mud Dumpling Technique!" he said as he lifted a large boulder out the ground and hurled it at the group of Chuunin. The other three began to scramble as Jiroubo stayed behind and took the others on.

"Quick! After them!" Shikamaru stated until Jiroubo was on top of Shikamaru and was launching a punch. Chouji blocked it by crossing his hands in an 'X' fashion. "You guys head on...I'll hold him off!" Chouji stated.

Shikamaru was prepared to argue but realized that they didn't have many options. After some words with Chouji they left and pursued. They had to catch up. Failure was not an option.


	21. Chapter 21

Since they left Chouji it had been one disaster after another. Neji had left next to block off some spider looking ninja. Kiba blocked off Sakon and then after that another appeared with white hair. Apparently the Sound Four was with Orochimaru. Naruto was going to Orochimaru. What was going on. Shikamaru himself stayed behind to fight Tayuya and Sasuke had to catch up to Kimmimaro. In the middle of the battle with Kimmimaro, Naruto appeared out the battle and left off in the direction of Sound. Sasuke tried to stop him but was knocked off by Kimmimaro. Rock Lee came to battle the bone wielding ninja and Sasuke left in persuit of Naruto.

'What was...that weird power...' Sasuke thought out loud. He was right behind Naruto when Naruto turned around and began throwing shuriken in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke had his sharingan activated and saw the path of the shuriken and deflected them all but one before catching it and throwing it back at Naruto who disappeared in a puff of smoke. The shuriken was a distraction so that Naruto could lose him. It would be harder than that.

'I guess it's time for me to try and reason with him. Maybe I can get him to turn back. If not...I'll have to take him out.' Naruto thought as he landed and Sasuke landed behind him.

"What are you doing you Dobe!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto. "You've got half the village worried sick, come back to Konoha, maybe we can work something out with Lady Tsunade." Sasuke started.

Naruto looked at him. 'This is gonna be hard.' he thought. "I'm not going back, Sasuke." Naruto started calmly.

"Why?" Sasuke wanted to know. "People miss you, and want you back. We need you." He finished.

Naruto looked at Sasuke. He was telling the truth, that much was true. "I can't bare to live there any more. The looks, the name calling. I can't even trust comrads besides you and Sakura. Don't try and make me come back Sasuke. I'm finally doing something for me. Let me have this one thing Sasuke." Naruto pleaded with him. This was a guy he viewed as his brother. He didn't want to hurt him. "You can't stop me Sasuke. You know you'll lose." He finished.

Wrong choice of words. Sasuke may have changed but he still liked to rise to a challenge. It was one of his weak points that he would need to work on. But it was something he didn't have under control. "What do you think you're better than me!?" Sasuke asked a little bit angry. "Look Naruto, you're coming back. Wheather you want to or not." He finished. Naruto turned around and looked at Sasuke before releasing a little bit of Killing Intent. Naruto had no reason to head back. And he wasn't being forced.

"And who is going to make me. You, little Sasuke. You lack the ability to bring me down." Naruto stated.

'You lack hate' Itachi's voice rang through Sasuke's head.

"You can't hope to beat me. So turn and run." Naruto said.

'Run...Cling to life.' Itachi voice came clear again.

"No...not this time." He said as he charged at Naruto and launched a punch. Naruto blocked the punch and returned fire with a punch of his own. Sasuke caught the punch and brought his other hand in to grab Naruto's jacket and used his strength to throw the blond. Naruto landed on his feet and slid across the ground before forming a few hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" He said as he blew out a large gust of wind which Sasuke saw coming and began forming hand signs finishing quickly on the tiger.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" He said as he blew out a ball of fire which came and hit the wind and exploded into a sea of raging flames. Naruto substituted with a log that was burned to crisps.

"You can't beat me with wind technique's Naruto. My element surpasses yours." Sasuke taunted.

"I have more chakra than you." Naruto stated. "And..." he said as he formed a few hand seals. "I'm faster." he said as he disappeared and reappeared infront of the Uchiha. Sasuke was then hit by an insanely fast punch as he was blasted back into a tree as Naruto appeared infront of him. "I asked you not to make me do this...Sasuke. To let me have this one thing. But you always have to have what you want. Always have to have your way. Poor little Lord Uchiha." Naruto taunted.

Sasuke winced at the taunts. Is this what Naruto thought of him. As some spoiled brat who got his way. "Tell me Sasuke. Why should I head back to the village. Because you'll miss me? Because Sakura will miss me. Because the Hokage will be upset. Or because the council just wants it's weapon back." He finished as he threw Sasuke back into the clearing. Sasuke landed and skidded before flipping to his feet and getting in a defensive stance. His sharingan was fully blazing. Naruto reappeared and he lifted his hand to block it by instinct alone. The first time the speed caught him off guard, but with his third stage, Naruto's movements were slower.

"What do you mean the council. This has nothing to do with them!?" Sasuke stated.

"OH but it does Sasuke. You see, being a Jinchuriki means I'm the villages show of power. Without me, they'll seem weaker by any of the great villages who have a jinchuriki of their own. This will give them a reason to invade. Iwa would jump at this. Kumo might, just to get the Byakugan. Mist is busy. Sand is our ally. So if it came down to it, a war between Kumo and Iwa vs Leaf and Sand would happen. And if those two joined up. Leaf...would have some problems. So without me in the village, it's surely doomed to be attacked by someone." Naruto finished.

Sasuke widened his eyes. Naruto would let the village burn. He would let them all die, just because of his treatement. "Would you abandon us?" Sasuke asked. He wanted to know the answer. He prayed Naruto wouldn't.

"Abandon you, Kakashi, Sakura, Lee, Kiba, Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, Tsunade, Shizune, or any of the others I've come to respect and love...No. The village. I'd watch it burn to the ground. It no longer represents what my father stands for. I have no reason to stay in that village. I have no reason other than you guys to come save that village." Naruto finished as he leapt off onto Uchiha Madara's head. "I'm going to Orochimaru. To gain the power I need. Then I'm going to end him. Maybe then...I'll come back to Konoha. Maybe then I can be happy. Or maybe once I kill him I'll come back to Konoha and finish the job that was started during it's destruction. I don't know." Naruto said out loud.

Sasuke couldn't accept that. He was a Konoha shinobi and was vowed to protect the village. Even if it was from his best friend. "I can't let you do that...Naruto." He said as he entered his taijutsu stance.

"So be it." Was Naruto's reply. He charged foward the Uchiha at imense speed as Sasuke removed the seals from his leg warmers and dashed off against Naruto.


	22. Chapter 22

Naruto launched a punch at Sasuke who dodged it. Sasuke may be slower but the sharingan gave him enough speed to match Naruto's punches and kicks to where he could dodge and counter. If it wasn't for the Sharingan, Sasuke would surely be outclassed. Sasuke launched a kick which Naruto blocked and held onto a Sasuke gave up leverage and flipped over to launch a kick at Naruto's head. Naruto let go and ducked as Sasuke used his now free leg to land on with one leg in the air still. Naruto launched an upper cut into Sasuke's jaw knocking him off balance and making him fly backwards.

Naruto used this time to remove a kunai and throw it at Sasuke. Sasuke caught the kunai before realizing what it was quickly and throwing it away. An explosion ensured as Naruto covered his head as the kunai rained down in small metal fragments now from the explosion tag. When he looked up Sasuke was upon him. Taking a massive blow from Sasuke he was launched off of the cliff and was heading into the water as he formed a few hand seals and gathered wind chakra.

"Wind Style: Feather Falling Jutsu!" He stated as the wind chakra expelled from his body and slowed his decent. Sasuke jumped off the cliff and began forming hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he stated as he released the large fireball. The force of the jutsu kept him in the air long enough to slightly hover. Naruto could only form a shadow clone that grabbed him and threw him out the way before it was dispelled by the fireball. Naruto landed and skidded on the water as Sasuke fell down.

Naruto gathered chakra in his right hand and rushed foward. 'Sorry Sasuke. But I need to end this.' he thought. "Rasengan!" he finished as Sasuke caught on and formed a chidori quickly as possible. He brought his hand up to clash with the Rasengan resulting in a massive explosion. Sasuke and Naruto was blown back as they both skidded across the water while doing a few flips. Sasuke was the first to recover and looked at Naruto. Naruto recovered and his eye's were hard as steel.

"I'm not going back." He stated. "Not to that hell hole." He finished.

"Naruto. It'll be different this time. I swear. We'll make them see you as the hero you deserve to be." He finished.

Naruto started laughing. He quieted down. "Do you know who My father is Sasuke. I'll give you a hint..." he stated as Sasuke remember he said something about his father. "What other shinobi in the village has Blond hair and blue eyes and resided in Konohagakure no Sato." he asked as Sasuke thought about it. "Besides from the Yamanaka...The fourth hoka...oh my god." Sasuke said.

"Seem's you caught on. It's actually pretty obvious. The Last name, Uzumaki, belonged to his wife, Kushina. And if you take away the wiskers I'm a carbon copy of Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage." Naruto finished off. "So tell me. Why should I return to a village that treats the son of their own Hero like this." He stated.

Sasuke racked his brain for answers but he had none. 'Why should Naruto come back. Besides the few that cared for him what did we ever do for him. I live in a whole district by myself, I could have offered him a home there. Sakura didn't even take up for Naruto when that man refused him entrance to the restaurant that one time. Kakashi trained me instead of him durnig the Chuunin exams. We've all done small things for him. But we've never made his life easier.' Sasuke thought.

"You just realized it, didn't you." Naruto said as he turned away. "No one has helped me as much as you and my other friends have, but it isn't enough. Revealing my heritage to them would only put myself and for a better reason my friends at risk. They already know I hold the Nine tailed fox. The majority don't trust me or are afraid of me, besides the select few. And when word gets out that I tried to leave, which it will, 'especially once Danzo's Root Agents inform him,' they'll go for me. They'll try and have me executed stating that I could have given village secrets to the Sound Four. There's nothing back at Konoha but death for me." Naruto stated.

Sasuke lowered his guard. But he had to try. He reached up and removed his head band and called out to Naruto.

"Fight me. If I win, you return back to Konoha. If I lose, you're free to go. No rules...no holding back...no regrets." Sasuke stated. What he was doing was a gamble but he had to know. Who's resolve was greater. His to return Naruto to the village, or Naruto's wish to be free from the hell which was Konoha.

"Fine...Prepare yourself, brother." Naruto said as he stepped into a stance.

"When ever you're ready, brother." Sasuke stated as he entered his own stance.

A single drop of rain began to fall from the sky. As soon as it reached the surface of the water between them they headed off against each other.

Sasuke was launching blow after blow to have Naruto either redirect or flat out block them until Naruto found an opening and took it. Sasuke purposely gave that opening to Naruto so that he could launch a counter and aimed for Naruto's gut. Naruto was hit in the gut as Sasuke jumped off the water and launched a rising knee into Naruto's chin launching backwards before bringing his other knee and with a powerful thrust sent it into his chin harder causing Naruto to fly backwards. As soon as Sasuke landed back on the water he disappeared in a burst of speed as Naruto was regaining his senses.

'He's not holding back against me any more.' Naruto thought as he formed a seal for a shadow clone as the shadow clone caught him and he formed another seal for a transformation jutsu. He transformed into a Flying Thunder God kunai and had the clone teleport to the seal he had on himself once the clone threw it at Sasuke.

The clone attacked Sasuke with punches and kicks only for Sasuke to block them until one landed. Once the kunai sunk into the water it dispelled and became Naruto who was holding his breath. Naruto began to form a lot of clones which came from the wate rushing at Sasuke who cut them down quickly as they came out. One of the Naruto clones grabbed Sasuke from underneath the water and pulled him down until they began to rise from the water one after another and threw Sasuke into the side of Madara's body. Sasuke landed and formed a few hand signs until he released a large burst of fire.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" He said as the Naruto clones all dispelled into smoke...except for one which was revealed to be Naruto who looked up at Sasuke in shock. 'That's...the real Naruto!' Sasuke thought as he looked back in shock. Naruto laid thered burnt badly looking at Sasuke.

'Did...did he just try and kill me.' Naruto thought. Naruto tried to get up as his eyes darkened. He thought Sasuke had just tried to kill him as his body was still healing.

"Naruto...I'm"

"Save it Sasuke. No regrets...right." Naruto said.

"I wasn't trying to kill you." Sasuke explained.

"The kid gloves are off Sasuke. Prepare yourself." Naruto said as a cloak of chakra began to form around him. He was using the Kyuubi's power. Naruto started to rise as his burns and injuries seemed to disappear at an alarming rate. He was still sore but he had no choice. It was either use the cloak or his body would heal slowly. Naruto put an arm to Sasuke's throat as he began to release the air out of Sasuke's body. "I told you I'm not going back Sasuke. If I have to beat you until you're broken and battered, I will." Naruto finished.

"Na...Naruto.." Sasuke choked out until a powerful punch connected with his gut and he was thrown through the air. Naruto jumped above him as Sasuke began to form hand seals while falling.

"Fire...Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" He said. The fireball made it's way to Naruto as Naruto inhaled and released a loud scream. The fireball went out like a candle light as Sasuke was driven hard into the water as Naruto landed on top of him. Naruto's body was swirling with red energy of the fox. Suddenly the power stopped as Sasuke removed something Kakashi had given him. The world seal appeared on it as Naruto's eyes dropped a little bit and he became a little heavier. He was cut off from the foxes chakra instantly.

"H...how." Naruto asked. He was still a little burned as time hadn't of given up.

"A seal...Kakashi gave me. It's to suppress the foxes power. I never thought I had to use it. I told him about you revealing the fox to me during our training. He gave me a seal that Jiraiya had given him."

"So that's where the Sage went to..." Naruto said out loud.

He was tired. Not having his usual reserves of chakra along side with the foxes made him feel exaughsted. The battle was even now as Sasuke rose up and charged Naruto. Naruto was hit by a combination while off set before Sasuke launched a vicious kick to Naruto's jaw that sent it out of place a little bit. Naruto felt that one as he was sent flying across the water. He then sank below the water before coming to his senses and began to rise back above the water.

'Guess it's time that I find out what this seal does.' Naruto thought to himself as he jumped out the water. He entered stage one of the curse seal as power over flowed him. It wasn't as much as the foxes, but it would do for the time being. Naruto charged at Sasuke and began matching him blow for blow. Naruto would hit with a punch only for it to be returned to him by Sasuke. Naruto would block only to have his blocked afterwards. It was back and forth between them.

Sasuke ducked down and caught Naruto off guard. "Lions..." he said as he kicked Naruto in the chin sending him into the air before shadowing him. When in their decent Sasuke unleashed a combo sending Naruto down to the water once more. "Barrage!" he exclaimed. Naruto landed in the water before using chakra to his back to keep him from sinking. He grabbed Sasuke's leg at the final blow and began to clutch.

"Don't you have anything new Sasuke." Naruto taunted as he let Sasuke's leg go after digging his nails in to cause a small amount of pain. Sasuke jumped away forming hand seals as Naruto got up.

"Chidori." Sasuke said as he prepared himself.

Naruto was on one knee before he rose his right hand and chakra came to it. "Rasengan." Naruto said as he got up and bursted at Sasuke with a large amount of speed. Sasuke charged and prepared to clash until he noticed something. The markings on Naruto's body grew. They covered his entire skin now.

Naruto's hair was no longer it's bright blond but a slightly silver blond. His eye's were no longer blue but were yellow in sight. His skin was gray and there was a black cross on his nose. Sasuke flinched at the sight but steeled his resolve to meet Naruto head on. They met in the middle and a bright orb of light surrounded them as Sasuke pushed for supremacy. Naruto pushed foward in an in small flash of power drilled his Rasengan into Sasuke's gut. Sasuke flew from the orb spinning at full power until Naruto came out of the orb with the Curse Mark receeding. He limped over to Sasuke to see if he was still breathing.

The Rasengan was fatal and this much was known, but he had to get Sasuke. He was not going back. He checked to see if Sasuke was still breathing. He realized Sasuke was and could feel someone approaching. 'Kakashi...' Naruto thought as he realized that they had been fighting for a while now. Naruto pushed himself up and made his way out of the forest. 'He'll be a threat later on and will want to return me. I should kill him now. Every bone in my body says to finish him off. But I can't...He's still like a brother to me.' Naruto thought.

He wasn't going to kill the only family he had left. If that day came, then he wouldn't see himself as a human any more.


	23. Chapter 23

'To have fallen so low Naruto.' Kakashi thought as he came upon the scene of Sasuke's unconscious form resting on the bank of the river. He was breathing, although shallow. Kakashi had to get him back to Konoha. Once Kakashi got back from his mission he had raced off to find Naruto and Sasuke. He had made it too late. Naruto was no where in sight but it was clear he left Sasuke like this. Pakkun could smell Naruto and Sasuke up ahead. The battle could be felt miles away. Hell Kakashi would have been proud of them both for reaching this level of power. But Sasuke was out classed. Sasuke wasn't fighting to kill and Naruto didn't have that limitation. It's harder to bring back a shinobi alive than it is dead. Naruto was better than Sasuke's in terms of skill and maybe even experience.

Kakashi lifted up Sasuke as he pumped chakra through his legs in order to reach Konoha at a faster speed. He dodged tree's and many obstacles to see the gate's in view. He thought about stopping but flew past the gates to get Sasuke to the hospital. Sasuke didn't have much time left. Kakashi got Sasuke to the hospital to see Tsunade already there.

"Oh no..Not another one..." Tsunade said. She was regretting this. She had hoped Naruto would listen to reason but apparently he left to Orochimaru. Naruto wasn't a traitor since he wasn't a shinobi any more, unless he planned this from the begining. He was a genin so he didn't have village secerets but he did have one thing that the village needed. And that was the power of the Kyuubi.

"Lady Tsunade...Where can I put Sasuke. He's gravely hurt!" Kakashi said. Sakura chose this time to come in and look around.

"Are they back. Where's Naruto and the ot-" she gasped. Sasuke was being held by Kakashi and looked to be at deaths door. 'Did Naruto do this?' she thought.

"Sakura, we need to leave. Now." Kakashi said in a tone that left no room for discussion. He grabbed her by the arm and led her out. Chouji had suffered from the effects of the food pills and was in critical condition. Kidomaru had pierced Neji dangerously close to his heart. They were fighting tooth and nail to save him. Shikamaru only got out with a broken finger. Kiba had almost lost Akamaru and was pretty banged up himself. They were currently healing Neji and needed Tsunade back inside. Shizune was working on Chouji herself.

Sakura had a range of emotions going through her. Sadness, hate, guilt, and then acceptance. She was sad Naruto left and couldn't be back. She hated him for what he did to Sasuke but then felt guilty for possibly being behind why he left in the first place. Then she accepted that there was nothing she could have done to stop it. She accepted her being too weak to help. She wasn't there yet, to their level. But she vowed to herself that day. She would be. She would train herself to the brink of death and back to bring Naruto back home. And then she would beat him damn near to death and heal him and do it all over again for putting her through this.

Weeks passed and only Sasuke hadn't awaken yet. His internal organs were damaged from the Rasengan and he was still fighting. FIghting to live, fighting to come back. Fighting to understand how he lost. Why he lost. That seal should have suppressed Naruto's chakra and the Kyuubi's. But that chakra he felt, was obviously tainted. Then he remembered. Naruto had taken a hit from Orochimaru for him. He had been spared the Curse Mark. That had to be it. But why was it so different. Sasuke slowly opened his eyes. He could figure that out later. He just had to find out where he was.

"Wh...where am I." Sasuke said as he felt something heavy on his lap. He saw a head of pink hair and tapped it. "Sakura?" He asked as Sakura herself awaken. She looked up to see Sasuke and wrapped him in a hug.

"Sasuke! You're awake!" She said as Sasuke winced in pain.

"What's going on...I thought for sure Naruto..." Sasuke trailed off. He thought Naruto had finished him off. He hadn't expected Naruto to drive a Rasengan into him. But what else could have been the outcome. He charged at him with a Chidori. That move was made to kill, not injure. He berated himself for getting caught up in the battle but he had to go all out.

"He didn't. He could have...but he didn't." She explained.

"That's an understatement" He mumbled.

"What Sasuke?" Sakura asked not catching what he said.

"Nothing..Where's Kakashi and Lady Tsunade." he asked.

Just then the door opened revealing Kakashi walking in. "Yo." He said. "Glad to see you awake Sasuke."

"How did I get back to the village?" He asked.

"I brought you back. No need to thank me just doing my job as a Sensei." He said.

Jiraiya suddenly walked in to the room. "Sasuke. It's good to see you awake. I need to have a few words with you." He finished as Sakura and Kakashi quickly left. Jiraiya looked upset but not at Sasuke, he was livid when he heard Naruto had used the Rasengan to put a fellow leaf shinobi in the hospital. That was not what it was intended for. But he had resigned himself when he realized that they all could have handled the Naruto situation better. If they had been there for him more...They wouldn't be in this situation.

"What is it Lord Jiraiya." Sasuke asked.

"Good, you know how to give respect where respect is due." Jiraiya laughed before he became deathly serious. "Tell me...How did your battle with Naruto go."

"I was beaten. The seals made him weak for a moment but then he used that strange mark on his neck. But this time...it was darker. It gave him more power." Sasuke explained. He filled in the rest of the battle as Jiraiya compiled the notes in his head.

"So...he really did go to Orochimaru...Disappointing." he said out loud. "Sasuke...Give up on Naruto. He didn't leave on anyone's will but his own. He doesn't want to be brought back. You shouldn't waste your time with him. Trust me on this I know. I pursued Orochimaru when he defected and as you can see, it caused me nothing but pain and sorrow. If I had finished him off instead of trying to bring him back, the Third Hokage might still be alive today." He finished.

Sasuke looked at Jiraiya as if he had lost his mind. "Are you serious? You want me to abandon Naruto...After all of this. Isn't that was got us in this mess the first time. You can't possibly expect me to leave him alone and let him go deeper into this hell he's in now!" Sasuke said. He grabbed his stomach in pain from being exciting. "I refuse. I won't let Naruto go down this road." He finished.

"If you follow him Sasuke, you're only going to get yourself killed. You won't be better than Naruto with the training you get now. Even with Kakashi teaching you, he'd have to all but abandon Sakura. He could do that since Sakura is being trained by Tsunade but you can't possibly believe them to let Kakashi train you by himself with the missions that need to be done. I'll offer to train you on one condition and that's only if you promise to give up on Naruto. As the boy's godfather it's hard for me to say this but believe me. Only a fool would chase after someone who doesn't want to come back." He finished

Sasuke looked down before giving it some thought. "Alright." He said. Jiraiya was glad the boy saw it his way. "If giving up on Naruto means that I'm a fool...Then I rather be a fool for life." Sasuke said with conviction. "I don't need your training. I'll find my own way. I'm an Uchiha after all. If Itachi could do it...then I'll surpass him in no time." Sasuke finished.

Jiraiya looked at the boy shocked. "What kind of man would I be to let the Last Uchiha run off by himself and come up with new powerful techniques. Alright kid, you convinced me. I'll train you myself if it means I help you at least try and bring Naruto back. If you think you're ready meet me at the gates of Konoha in two weeks. And be prepared. You're going to be worked to the bone kid."

Sasuke smiled for the first time in years as he laid back down and closed his eyes. He needed to rest. He had a long two weeks ahead of him to prepare.

elsewhere, in the Land of Rice a certain young blond haired shinobi just made his way into Otogakure. "Orochimaru...What is it you want from me." Naruto asked the snake sannin.

"What else could I want Uzumaki. I wish to use your power to expand my goals. In return...I'll teach you all I know and make you into a powerful shinobi." Orochimaru informed him. 'Then once you've used up your usefulness I'll rid the world of you and the Kyuubi. This will delay Akatsuki's plans. They don't know I have the boy and I'm going to keep it this way for a long, long time." Orochimaru thought to himself.

"I see. When do we start?" Naruto asked.

"Tomorrow but first...we have to remove you from the contact of the snake clan. Sign this in your blood." Orochimaru commanded and Naruto bit his finger and signed his name on the Snake Contract. Naruto was reverse summoned into the Land of the Toads.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are brought before the Toads to inform you that you are in violation of our contract. By signing the snake contract there can only be one summoner for these groups. Do you wish to cancel your contract with the Toads. Be warned that by doing this you will become the enemy of the Toad Clan." the elder toad informed him. Naruto closed his eyes before opening them.

"Yes."

"Then It is so!" and Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Welcome to Otogakure...Naruto." Orochimaru responded.

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru." Naruto bowed. 'So it begins.'


	24. Review Answering(These will update)

Alright to all of you who review without an account. This one goes out to you.

Get a damn account.

On another note.

Thank you for your reviews they are so helpful. I'm going to try and do revisions as I can and try to make sure that when I update the stories that they will be more detailed. I did go for the, fill in the blanks thing, because i wanted to get to the sequel quickly which would be the real divergance from the plot of naruto. Naruto is evil, he will be dark. That much is certain and I pointed out that Naruto plays the "I'm a victim" card then telling people not to Play that card. Yeah true, I never said naruto wouldn't be a hypocrite. But that's also an excuse for poor writing but if I change it now i don't know how much of the story it will change.

About Naruto's abilities. He's smart enough to understand the risks of Kage Bunshin training and he trains himself physically while they train his knowledge and skills with techniques. This puts years and years of training into days. All naruto lacks is experience, and since i have no experience as a ninja, his fighting against experienced opponents will be a lil bit even or onesided at time with naruto getting his ass kicked. He's more powerful than Kakashi honestly but he's weak experience wise. This means that an experienced fighter will pick up his fighting style and start developing counters. Sasuke will, at one point, beat Naruto solely because his sharingan will read his movements and will be able to be as fast as Sasuke. Remember at the time skip and also before the time skip. Sasuke was vastly faster than naruto point being that he could move fast enough that a Kage Bunshin would have to propell him into Sasuke for the same speed that Sasuke himself could run at. I've switched that and amped it up a little bit but a gap will be closed.

The thing about the irrational hatred for Naruto is simple. The Kyuubi, which resides in Naruto, was the initial cause of him to be hated. Now, the Third Hokage removed the law allowing the secertacy of the Kyuubi being within Naruto from the books at Naruto's request. The law was useless. The younger generation would find out about the Kyuubi sooner or later, and their like for him would either increase decrease or remain neutral. Based on my characterization of some characters, like shino and shikamaru, people would either hate him, or see him in a new light.

Shino's reasoning for disliking him is the fact that He hold's Kyuubi, Orochimaru Marked him, and the majority of the village distrusts naruto. Listening to Logic, Shino would view him as a risk to his welfare and would not associate with him.

Shikamaru with his big ass iq would be able to see why naruto would be hated and could reason that Naruto's too loyal to the village to do any real harm to anyone. He's never shown a reason for distrust in front of Shikamaru.

Now the village as a whole. Some of the shinobi forces, those who don't understand naruto's burden(I.e Chuunin and lower) would have no reason to like Naruto since all they know is that he holds the Kyuubi. They'd have to hold their own opinions of him. Many, who have lost family or friends(Such as iruka did) would dislike him just for holding the Kyuubi and take fustrations out on him.

The civilians hate him for that any ways. So that explains them.

The Jounin's(Those not really affected by Kyuubi's destruction or smart enough to know the tool from it's holster) have either a positive or unbaised outlook of Naruto.

Now here's the kicker.

Add the Curse seal to it. Any civilian would jump at the chance to say "Oh look, the demon has a curse mark from Orochimaru." and just like Anko, bam he get's hated for being behind the invasion, even though he saved everyone's ass from the Shukaku(but no one knows it)

Now all you do is add a conspiracy to eliminate naruto. With his already wavering sanity from his hardships and his increase in knowledge, he'd break. Naruto would rather leave the village, after all he's had to endure, cut all ties, and just move on. He removed himself from the Shinobi ranks. Making him a civilian, and tries to lead a normal life. This won't work because they still want him dead. Any now he's not a shinobi, anything goes. Naruto has no reason to stay save the few people he's made a bond with. That bond...is useless if he can't live happily in the village.

This isn't the "Never give up" Naruto. This is a more darker, smarter, and powerful Naruto. Just how Sasuke kind of lost his sanity when he realized he killed itachi because itachi wanted him to. Naruto has lost a part of his sanity because he's given everything to the village and yet they still want him dead. Staying a village where about 60-80% of the village hates you, will test any one's sanity. Hell we saw Naruto's darkness that he keep's locked away. That's the real him as kyuubi said. He was just hiding it over the years. His hate for the villagers is strong. And that much was certain. Some may say "Oh that was a trick by Kyuubi to get naruto to give into his power" but let's be honest. We all have darkness. We all have hate. I could think of people i'd wanna kill just for breathing sometimes. Messed up, yeah i know. But not everyone is a complete ball of sunshine.

I didn't see either of those two recent comments as flames. They're going to be the basis of improving this story and making my next story more enjoyable and easy to follow. It will be fixed. Believe me. Thank you for bringing these things to me.


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